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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 11, 2000
Allen Memorial Art Museum - Oberlin College
Hours: Tues.-Sat. 10 A.M.-5 P.M.; Sun. 1-5 P.M.
Closed Mondays and major holidays. Telephone: 440.775.8665
CONTACT: LESLIE MILLER
Oberlin — Thanks to a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Allen Memorial Art Museum will be able to enhance its role as an educational resource by making the museum collection available online.
"We are very excited and pleased to have received this highly competitive grant," said Sharon F. Patton, the John G. W. Cowles Director of the Allen. "As an academic art museum we recognize the increasing importance of digital technology for educational and teaching purposes and for providing a ‘virtual aesthetic experience.’ The Museum Online grant consequently enables us to implement one of our more important initiatives–an interactive museum Web site. Not only students and faculty at Oberlin College but also the citizens of Lorain and western Cuyahoga counties will benefit from this project."
"In the inaugural year of the Museums Online grants, I am proud that the IMLS is taking the lead in helping museums use the promise of technology to reach new and existing audiences," said Beverly Sheppard, Acting Director of the IMLS. "Truly these awards are bringing museum and the public, online or in person, into the 21st century."
Museums Online addresses the technological needs and issues of museums. This is the first federal program designed specifically to make technology resources available to all types of museums. Support is given for model projects that demonstrate the educational impact of connecting museums and their communities through technology or that address the challenges of digitizing museum collections. With this support, museums will share the ideas and information in thousands of museum collections with classrooms, community centers, and homes across the United States and its territories
IMLS awarded the Allen Memorial Art Museum $141,329 to expand the availability of educational art resources on its Web site for researchers, teachers, students and the general public. The Federal government gave over $1.6 million dollars to seven museums for projects demonstrating creative uses of technology.
IMLS is a federal grantmaking agency located in Washington, D.C. that fosters leadership, innovation and a lifetime of learning by supporting museums and libraries.
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