A guide for multimedia museum exhibits: 1,000 years of the Olympic Games

Abstract

Despite the ongoing debate on the strengths and weaknesses of digitally reconstructed archaelogical models, the virtual reconstruction of Olympia, and the website for the exhibition 1,000 Years of the Olympic Games: Treasures of Ancient Greece www.phm.gov.au./ancient greek olympics/ have demonstrated not only the unlimited potential of this medium, but also the viability of the Internet to supplement and extend materials offered locally in museums. The author is project manager/creative producer of special projects at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, where she developed the Olympia visualization and multimedia project. Traditionally a maritime archaeologist and museum curator, Sarah Kenderdine has researched and excavated shipwrecks throughout Australia and the Indian Ocean region and has written a number of books on the subject. After completing an M.A. degree on virtual museums in 1995, with a research thesis on design, she carried out web projects for the Western Australian Maritime Museum from 1994 to 1995, the Smithsonian Institution, and for the Museum Archives and Informatics. For two years from 1998, Ms Kenderdine was the information architect and creative producer for the portal web Australian Museums On‐Line (amol.org.au). She has recently completed working with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa to examine redesign options for the portal web New Zealand Museums Online.