evaluation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website

The website that I reviewed was the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The reason that I wanted to review this website is because I have been interested in visiting this museum and hoped that the website would give me a better idea of what to expect. The website explained that “The Museum’s primary mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy”. To do this, the museum has gathered research on the Holocaust and created exhibitions, programs, published articles and distributed information to schools.

The website is divided into sections for the museum itself, for the public’s education about the Holocaust, ways in which you can participate in remembering the Holocaust and how to recognize and prevent genocide. The section devoted to the museum allows you to view photos and video clips from special exhibitions in the museum as well as exhibitions only available online. In addition, you are able to view photos from the permanent exhibition and depending on what photos you find interesting, the system will show you more from the collection that relate. When you view a photo from the museum you also receive information on where that particular picture was taken which will help you to locate it when you visit. The education section provides personalized websites for teachers, students, and university scholars. The student section provides online activities in addition to learning about the Holocaust, and the university scholar page provides access to lectures, further study and employment opportunities with the museum. The remembrance section of the website gives information on Remembrance Day and suggests how you can organize your own. The genocide section relates the Holocaust to global issues of genocide that are occurring today and urges you to get involved to stop genocide.

I think that this website achieves the museum’s mission because it brings you into contact with not only the museum, but research on the Holocaust as well. By creating an education section that is relevant to several different groups the museum is able to address the needs of teachers, students and university scholars. I also think that by making it less about the museum and more about education the website follows the mission because while the museum helps to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, having access to the information without having to go to the museum makes the website more effective. You also receive access to special exhibitions and there are hundreds of photographs and video for each aspect of the Holocaust. Overall, this website is effective because it gives the public a greater understanding of the fact that the museum is about education, awareness and prevention, but it also gives the public access to hundreds of photos from the permanent collection. This allows the viewer to learn more about the Holocaust in preparation to go to the museum and may peak their interest to certain parts of the permanent exhibition.

website url: http://www.ushmm.org/