The Zombie Stack Exchanges That Just Won't Die
As more and more museums, libraries and archives provide access to content online it seems to blur the different roles each of these institutions played. Libraries create virtual exhibits, museums and galleries are providing bulk access to large collections of images etc. To what extent to these institutions converge into largely the same thing on the web and to what extent do their brick and mortar distinctions remain particularly significant? I realize that the physical forms of these institutions are going to continue to be very distinct, but I am curious if the virtual forms are becoming something in between all three.
Trevor Owens
One common difference is reuse permissions automatically granted to end-users; museums tend to be least liberal, libraries most, with archives somewhere in the middle. The differences often aren't as great as they might be, considering.
For more, see Kristin Eschenfelder's IMLS report on the subject.
I think an important consideration in the differences (digitally or otherwise) between libraries, archives, and museums is their mission statements.
MassMOCA: http://www.massmoca.org/mission.php Their goals is to showcase art (visual & performance), followed by education, then economic & commercial development. The focus, then, is sharing the art.
UMass Amherst Libraries: http://www.library.umass.edu/about-the-libraries/mission-statement/ on the other hand considers education their primary focus.
The Springfield, MA City Libraries: http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/board/bylawsrev.html see their role as a community source for literacy, technology & information--broad dissemination of information as well as materials with a wide & general audience.
The Internet Archive: http://archive.org/about/about.php focuses on cultural preservation. Granted, IA is a completely digital collection, not an archive that exists in brick & mortar.
So while any of these can and are creating digital presences, their goals will most likely align with their mission statements. However, overlaps in goal & subject are inevitable, which may make them seem quite similar.
I think the Web does blur the distinctions a bit, which is why we are seeing efforts like the Wikipedia GLAM and Europeana. It is a bit of a generalization, but libraries have focused primarily on books, of which there are (typically) many copies, often with stringent market driven copyright and licensing constraints. Archives on the other hand are typically populated with unique items, that have somewhat different (and varied) restrictions on distribution. I think archival materials are of increasing interest as cultural heritage organizations engage with the Web because of their uniqueness, and the opportunity that the Web offers for publishing the content for researchers around the world. The line does blur a bit as books get older, more rare, and fall into the public domain.
Another important distinction between libraries, archives, and museums that originates in their non-digital manifestations that persists in their online presences has to do with the relationship to users/visitors. Libraries have developed a tradition of extensive user services (reference desks, subject guides, bibliographic instruction) in which the users information (seeking) needs are the focus of activity and energy. Whereas, though this is certainly a generalization, archives have focused on things like provenance and original order---which are not so much user-focused but materials-focused. Museums it seems have a different relationship with users/visitors---one perhaps more centered around exhibits (selected and guided presentations of materials). These different approaches to serving the user (or even thinking about how to serve the user) find reflection in these different kinds of institutions online presences.