The website for the National Museum of the American Indian is first and foremost an advertisement for the museum itself. Its primary mission and purpose is to attract visitors to the museum, located on the National Mall, as well as its sister museum, located in New York City, and the research center, located in Maryland. When you first enter the site, the eye is immediately drawn to a moving image of the back of a beautiful beaded dress against a sharp black background. It most be noted, however, then when viewing this website on a computer other than my own, this image was not available because the computer was not equipped to view flash. This is a major detriment to anyone who cannot view this image as it is not only striking and inviting, but also showcases the museum's newest exhibit called Identity by Design.
When able to see this image, however, the main page of the site is extremely pleasing to the eye. The main background is yellow, and the inset box where all the information is, is black. The main page has multiple navigation bars. The main navigation bar—red with white writing—is located across the center of the page. There are also navigation bars at the top right and bottom right. The main page also highlights four upcoming events and the newest addition to the site—podcasts.
The site offers a search function that is easily located on the first page and all subsequent pages as you navigate throughout the site. There is also a site map. The site map is excellent as it lays out all of the sections and subsections of the site. Each section title is in a different color and it is against a simple white background keeping it clear and easy to read.
The main red navigation bar leads visitors to sections titled Visitor Information, Exhibitions, Events, Outreach, Education, Collections and Membership and Giving. When you click on any of these links the main navigation bar moves to the top of the page and a second navigation bar, listing subsections, appears to the left. Each page has a similar layout and color scheme, maintaining a continuity and cohesion for the site. In the upper left hand corner there is a box where the name of the museum is always located. The background image in this area changes as you navigate to different pages. This is also a way to return to the homepage, but this function is not explicitly noted. The only way you’d know that it allows you to easily return to the homepage is if you run the mouse over it and see that the cursor changes.
The exhibitions section of the website enables visitors to get information on current exhibits at all of the museums locations, information on past exhibits and links to all available online exhibits. The site offers 25 online exhibits, and each connects you to a new page and essentially a new website. Many of these online exhibits were available to view in both Spanish and English, which helps maintain the integrity of the museum as collection of Native groups of all of North America. Many of the online exhibits have virtual tours, pictures of the collection and an abundance of information on a number of varying topics.
Another highlight of the website was the Education section. One of the best subsections was a link for teachers to obtain education publications. Teachers could view a picture of the publication, a brief summary of its content and a link to download the .pdf file. It also provided the link to the Smithsonian Education website.
The website in general is very clear, concise and extremely user friendly. The navigation bars are easy to locate, and it is not difficult to find a variety of information on the museum and its collections. The layout is logical as are the navigation headings. The color scheme throughout the website stays within a family of rich colors, reminiscent of both nature and Native American culture. The colors primarily used are yellow, gold, purple, red and green. Black is often used as background for images making them "pop." It is a truly “pretty” website. For all of its beauty, however, it is still relatively simple in design and does not try to "over do" it. Images are used to support each section, but they are not overused or distracting. Rather, they complement each section and represent the museum's collection well. The pages are clean and clear. The sections of prose are well written and concise. Anytime there is information of more than two or three lines, the text is black on a white background. Clearly the designers of this website have taken into consideration the importance of easy readability when dealing with larger amounts of text.
Aside from the disappointing discovery that not all computers can see the image on the home page, there are a few other elements that the website lacks. They are, however, more having to do with the site's mission and purpose rather than a fault of design. One of these is that the site does not offer much in the way of scholarship. The mission of the site is not to be a place for research, but rather a resource for visitors to the museum, which accounts for this absence. While the online exhibits may offer some information that could be used for research purposes, there are no areas where visitors can find more detailed information on the collection itself.
Another element noticeably lacking from the site are “kid friendly” features. There are no sections for games or obvious links to information about what in the museum would be best for children. There is information in the education section for family programs and offers a family guide to the museum, however, if a younger person were to come to the website, there is nothing to immediately engage his or her interest.
The site does offer new technology, however, as Podcasts are now being offered. The podcasting page offers links to where you can subscribe for the podcast and also gives a brief overview of what each of the different podcasts offers. There are three podcasts; one has commentaries from Native peoples, one offers musical performances and the third contains video reports. This is the one area where visitors would be able to get more detailed understanding and history of Native American culture without having to leave their homes.
Overall, this is an excellent website, and there is little negative that can be said about it. It is not, however, a website I would recommend for those seeking research sources for Native American culture. It provides information on how to contact the research arm of the museum, which is located in Maryland, but beyond that there is little information to be found online. For anyone who wants to view a well constructed, clear and effective website it would be a model example. I also believe that the color, clarity and content of the web page serves as an effective advertisement to draw visitors to the museum. The website conveys the museum as a beautiful and dynamic place to learn about the history of Native Americans in North America and evokes a simple and “earthy” feel, consistent with the theme of the museum itself.
