Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University

Purpose: Supporting Lifelong Learning The Washington University Gallery of Art's Collections Access Project (CAP) will promote lifelong learning and enhance public access to the museum through technology. The project's most significant achievement will be the creation of online public access to the collections. In preparation for CAP, collections records have been purged of errors and updated, and the registration database has been reorganized. The project will entail redesigning the museum's Web site with a link to the registration database. Once this has been completed, a separate project will support the creation of high-resolution, publication-quality digital images of the collection. CAP will enable wider dissemination of information through the interface between the collections database and other technology, such as e-mail and the World Wide Web. It will render the art collections electronically searchable by outside users for the first time. The project is a priority for the gallery. It plays a central role in meeting several key goals outlined in the museum's strategic plan: strengthening the relationship of the gallery to the educational mission of Washington University, increasing the number of visitors to the gallery, broadening and increasing public educational programming, increasing the visibility of the museum, and making the museum's collections, exhibitions, and programs more accessible to the public.