Best of the Web awards

Best of the Web awards is an annual contest, organized each year at the Museums and the Web conference.^[1] A committee of peers recognises the best museum work on the web. Sites are nominated by museum professionals from around the world.

Categories

Sites have been nominated in the following categories. To recognize the enormous evolution in the online space these categories have been updated for MW2013:

• Audio / Visual / Podcast - Rich Media (audio/film/interactive)
• Education
• Exhibition - Digital Exhibition
• Innovative / Experimental
• Long-lived
• Mobile
• Museum Professional
• Research / Online Collection - Research / Collections Online
• Social Media

An overall winner is chosen among all nominated sites. In addition, there is a People's Choice Award (based on voting by the Museums and the Web community), and an award for a Small organization (based on staff number, annual budget, and/or project budget).

All nominations are made through the Museums and the Web site http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2012/best and are also available online for others to review. Sites can be nominated in any one of the categories.

Note that the award categories may change from year-to-year, evolving along with the current trends of online presence.

Previous winners

2014

• Rich Media: #Taull1123. Immersive experience in a World Heritage Site (or Augmented Reality without devices)' http://mw2014.museumsandtheweb.com/bow/taull1123-immersive-experience-in-a-world-heritage-site-or-augmented-reality-without-devices/
• Education: MoMA’s Catalysts: Artists Creating with Sound Video and Time' http://mw2014.museumsandtheweb.com/bow/catalysts-artists-creating-with-sound-video-and-time/
• Education Honourable Mention: Cleveland Museum of Art: Studio Play' http://mw2014.museumsandtheweb.com/bow/studio-play/
• Digital Exhibition: Cleveland Museum of Art: Collection Wall' http://www.clevelandart.org/gallery-one/collection-wall
• Innovative / Experimental: Dallas Museum of Art: DMA Friends' http://www.dma.org/visit/dma-friends
• Long-lived: Horniman Museums and Gardens' http://www.horniman.ac.uk/
• Mobile: Cleveland Museum of Art: ArtLens' http://mw2014.museumsandtheweb.com/bow/artlens/
• Museum Professional: Musepunks' http://museopunks.org/
• Research / Collections Online: Operation War Diary' http://www.operationwardiary.org/
• Research / Collections Online Honourable mention: Seattle Art Museum: The Online Catalogue of Chinese Painting & Calligraphy' http://chinesepainting.seattleartmuseum.org/OSCI/
• Social Media: In the Horniman' http://in-the-horniman.tumblr.com/
• Best Small Museum Project: Tang Museum “Classless Society” exhibition website' https://tang.skidmore.edu/app/public/webroot/files/uploads/classless_society/index.html
• Best Small Museum Project Honourable mention: Victorian Collections' http://victoriancollections.net.au/
• People’s Choice: BoW Nomination: Reynolda House Museum of American Art' http://reynoldahouse.org
• Best of the Web: Dallas Museum of Art: DMA Friends' http://www.dma.org/visit/dma-friends

2013

• Rich Media: Anish Kapoor in MCA Publications http://www.mca.com.au/apps/mca-publications/
• Education: ArtNC http://artnc.org/
• Digital Exhibition: The Gallery of Lost Art http://galleryoflostart.com/
• Innovative / Experimental: Rijksstudio: Make Your Own Masterpiece http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/rijksstudio
• Long-lived: ArtBabble Redesign http://www.artbabble.org/
• Mobile: Sound Uncovered https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sound-uncovered/id598835017?mt=8
• Museum Professional: Beyond the Printed Page: Museum Digital Publishing Bliki http://digitalpublishingbliki.com/
• Research / Collections Online: Cooper-Hewitt Online Collection http://collection.cooperhewitt.org/
• Social Media: Titanic on Twitter http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/bow/titanic-on-twitter/
• Best Small Museum Project: TXTilecity http://txtilecity.ca/
• People’s Choice: Rijksstudio: Make Your Own Masterpiece
• Best of the Web: Rijksstudio: Make Your Own Masterpiece

2012

• Audio / Visual / Podcast: Whitney Museum of American Art 'The Vlog Project' http://whitney.org/Vlogs
• Education: Boston Children's Museum 'Beyond the Chalkboard' http://www.beyondthechalkboard.com/
• Exhibition: Brooklyn Museum 'Split Second: Indian Paintings' http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/splitsecond/
• Innovative: Walker Art Center http://www.walkerart.org
• Long Lived: National Galleries of Scotland http://www.nationalgalleries.org/
• Mobile: High Museum of Art 'ArtClix' http://www.high.org/moma.aspx#/Picasso-to-Warhol/artclix
• Museum Professional: INTK 'Museum Analytics' http://www.museum-analytics.org/
• Research / Online Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art 'Collections at The Met', designed by Cogapp http://metmuseum.org/collections
• Social Media: Auckland Museum 'Kermadec Expedition blog' http://kermadec.aucklandmuseum.com
• Small: Chemical Heritage Foundation 'It's Elemental' http://www.chemheritage.org/ElementalVideos
• People's Choice: INTK 'Museum Analytics' http://www.museum-analytics.org/
• Best Overall: Walker Art Center http://www.walkerart.org

2011

• Audio / Visual / Podcast: Museum Victoria ‘Access All Areas’ podcast adventures, designed in-house http://museumvictoria.com.au/accessallareas/podcastadventures/
• Education: Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI Generator, designed by Monkii http://generator.acmi.net.au
• Education (Honorable Mention): The College of Physicians of Philadelphia The History of Vaccines, designed by Night Kitchen Interactive http://www.historyofvaccines.org
• Exhibition: Museum of Modern Art Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century, designed by Second Story, Inc. http://moma.org/cartierbresson
• Exhibition (Honorable Mention): Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) City of Horrors, designed by Ignasi Rifé http://www.cccb.org/laciutatdelshorrors/old.php?l=en
• Innovative: Nationnaal Historisch Museum / Museum of National History Nationnaal Historisch Museum / Museum of National History, designed in-house http://www.innl.nl
• Long Lived: Exploratorium Exploratorium.org, designed by varied http://www.exploratorium.org
• Mobile: The Museum of Modern Art AB EX NY iPAD APP, designed by Deep Focus http://www.moma.org/explore/mobile/abexnyapp
• Mobile (Honorable Mention): California Academy of Sciences Golden Gate Park Field Guide, designed by Odopod http://www.calacademy.org/apps/ggp/
• Museum Professional: Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy Wiki, designed in-house http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com
• Research / Online Collection: The British Museum Portable Antiquities Scheme, designed by Daniel Pett http://finds.org.uk
• Social Media: Tate One-to-one with the Artist: Ai Weiwei, designed by Cogapp http://aiweiwei.tate.org.uk/
• Social Media (Honorable Mention): The Museum of Modern Art Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures, designed by Stamen http://MoMA.org/screentests
• Small: County Museum, Dundalk ASI: Archaeology Scene Investigations in North County Louth, designed by MOR Solutions http://www.asi-louth.ie/
• People's Choice: Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy Wiki, designed in-house http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com
• Best Overall: Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI Generator, by Monkii http://generator.acmi.net.au
• Special Community Award: Spinny Bar Historical Society SBHS, designed "in-house" http://www.spinnybarhistoricalsociety.org/

2010

• Education: Museum of Modern Art Meet Me: The MoMA's Alzheimer's Project, designed in-house http://www.moma.org/meetme
• Exhibition (Honorable Mention): Historical Society of Pennsylvania PhilaPlace, designed by Night Kitchen Interactive http://www.philaplace.org/
• Exhibition: Museum of Modern Art Bauhaus: Workshops for Modernity 1919-1933, designed by Hello Design http://www.moma.org/bauhaus
• Innovative/Experimental: Royal Observatory Greenwich Solar Stormwatch, designed in-house http://solarstormwatch.com/
• Long-lived: Culture24 Culture24, designed by Culture24 and System Simulation Limited http://www.culture24.org.uk/
• Museum Professional: Museum Marketing http://museummarketing.org/
• Podcast: National Museum of Australia National Museum of Australia's Audio on demand program, designed by Icelab http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/
• Research: Victoria and Albert Museum V&A Search the Collection, designed by The Other Media http://collections.vam.ac.uk/
• Social Media: Museo Picasso de Barcelona Museo Picasso Online Community, designed in-house http://www.bcn.cat/museupicasso/en/get-involved/online-community.html
• Small: Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich OnView, designed in-house http://www.dulwichonview.org.uk/
• People's Choice: National September 11 Memorial & Museum Make History, designed by Local Projects http://911history.org/
• Best Overall: Indianapolis Museum of Art ArtBabble, designed in-house http://www.artbabble.org/

2009

• Online Exhibition: Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/click
• Educational: Tate Kids http://kids.tate.org.uk/
• Education (Honorable Mention): Firefly Watch, Museum of Science, Boston https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch/
• Museum Professional's: CODART.nl http://www.codart.nl
• Research: Museum of Jewish Heritage Online Collection http://collection.mjhnyc.org
• Online Community or Service: Brooklyn Museum Collection, Posse, and Tag! You are It! http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/collections/
• Online Community or Service (Honorable Mention): Flickr Commons http://www.flickr.com/commons and Indicommons http://www.indicommons.org
• Podcast (Audio, Video): RWM (Radio web MACBA) http://rwm.macba.cat
• Innovative or Experimental: My Yard Our Message http://myyardourmessage.com/
• Innovative or Experimental (Honorable Mention) Astronomy Photographer of the Year (plus complimentary digital astronomy services) http://www.nmm.ac.uk/astrophoto
• Small: Museum 2.0 http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/
• People's Choice: Video Active Video Active, designed by the Video Active Project http://videoactive.wordpress.com/workplan-2/
• Best Overall: Brooklyn Museum Collection http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/

References