John G. Blog 1 Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns, & Mermaids

The "Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns, & Mermaids" was an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York from May 26, 2007 - January 6, 2008. It showcased mythical beasts from land, water, and air throughout human history. According to the introduction page on this website, the purpose of the exhibition was to provide patrons with information in regards to how these mythological creatures have remained a part of human culture for thousands of years in different cultures around the world.

Collection Principles

This exhibition was designed and produced by the American Museum of Natural History's Exhibition Department and incorporated a variety of scientific divisions of the museum. It was also created in collaboration with several different museums around the world. The goal was to digitize and chronicle the exhibition so that patrons could interact with the art, stories, folklore, songs, and mythical creatures in a multimedia format even after the exhibition was over. There are exhibit summaries, thumbnails of digitized artifacts, and podcasts.

Object Characteristics

The digital exhibition contains a wide variety of artifacts including: maps, drawings, paintings, models, historical accounts, photographs, and other artwork. The website also contains podcasts with virtual tours of parts of the exhibit. Viewers are redirected to podcastgo.com to view the podcast portions of the exhibit. Digitized artifacts are embedded throughout the site and are divided and grouped into categories in regards to where the mythical beasts were believed to have lived. They are not separated by artifact type (for example, maps are not grouped together, etc.) but can be found in a consolidated "thumbnail" view under each category.

Metadata

Each digitized artifact contains a brief description, the copyright of the photographer or owner, and the name of the collection that it was borrowed or on loan from. The American Museum of Natural History website has a "copyright" link at the bottom of the page with a disclaimer outlining how parts of the digital exhibit may be used.

The exhibit also provides information regarding the curators of the exhibition. A brief bio and resume is provided for each curator listing their past experience and areas of expertise (Paleontology and Anthropology).

Intended Audience

The intended audience is museum patrons of all ages that are interested in mythological beasts. Although this exhibit is no longer on display at the museum, patrons can still visit the exhibition online. The website also includes maps of the exhibit, cool interactive informational and game links for kids, and resources for educators.