Primary sources available on the internet

Primary Sources Available on the Internet

Review of Website: The Vasa Museum.

This Website acts only as an online entrance and resource area for the physical museum. Within these parameters it functions well and provides some interesting and intriguing information and news on the topic of the Vasa, the world's only surviving 17th-century ship century ship.

The Website is designed essentially for a general audience and displays a user-friendly interface. The type of audience or viewership that the site would attract ranges from a general audience interested in tourism and the exhibit to amateur and possibly professional historians. However, due to its design and the relative paucity of in-depth information on the site, the majority of visitors would possibly fall into the tourist and amateur historian category.

In essence the site does not have sufficient depth in terms of archival information and historical data. On the other hand the information that is available is interesting and extremely well-presented. The Website is also a good marketing advertisement for the physical museum. While the site achieves its aim of attracting a general audience there is certain paucity of historical information to satisfy any in - depth professional interest. A positive aspect in terms of its accessibility and usability is the fact that the site is translated into a number of different languages.

There are certain areas that merit mention. The Exhibition area makes limited use of the potential that digital media provides and there are some interesting graphics that motivate the viewer to visit the museum. Once again the central criticism of the site is that this information, while well presented in a fairly instructive, is not of sufficient depth to interest the serious historian.

The use of the potential of the Internet is also not used optimally. While image and text are used to provide information and background about the ships, better use could have been made of modern technology to enhance the site. For example, more use of interactive technologies such as, video, podcasts and blogs could have increased the interaction and depth of the site and the online exhibition.

However there are some informative and laudable sections to this site. One of these is the News section. This area shows how up-to-date the site is terms of announcements about the museum. This section also goes a long way to authenticating the site. While this is not extensive is it informative and provides the site with a sense of immediacy.