Review
of Robert A. Baron's Website ILLINOIS HERITAGE ASSOCIATION
ONLINE Table of Contents: 1.
ROBERT A. BARON WEBSITE 1. ROBERT A. BARON WEBSITE. Arts information consultant Robert A. Baron has a website full of interesting information about arts management. The site is also a good demonstration of how to utilize existing information and put it together in a web format, primarily using text. There are five sections to the site: Papers on Copyright, Scholarship, and Images; Papers on Museum and Art Computerization; Guides to Museum and Arts Computerizing; Divertimenti; and E-Mail Musings. Baron makes use of various presentations and articles he has prepared and prints the full text online. One of the presentations in Section One is from a Town Meeting in Portland, OR, September 22, 1997, "Copyright Law in the Digital World. Fair Use, Education, and Libraries after CONFU" [Conference on Fair Use]. Baron's paper, "Trying Out the Guidelines," details a number of drawbacks for educators in the proposed guidelines. In
Section Two an interesting article by Baron on "The
Computerized Accession Ledger" addresses the
function of the Registrar's paper log book in the age of
computers. The article was printed in *Registrar*, vol.
8, no. 2 (Fall 1991): 41,ff. Section Three is a reference
section. It contains a glossary of collection management
terms, and outlines of procedures such as a systems needs
analysis and a flow chart for deaccessioning. Section
Four offers food for thought, but in a lighter vein.
Especially intriguing is "Giocondaphiliac's Delight:
Mona Lisa's Images in the Modern World." There are
links to depictions of Mona Lisa in a Charles Adams
cartoon, a postcard, wrapping paper, and a cookie jar.
Baron suggests what it all means. Section Five cleverly
integrates email postings of Baron and others on current
topics. One subject, "On National Myths in Museums
and Theme Parks" addresses some of the differences
between museums and theme parks and why people go to
them. Baron is meticulous in citing the origins of
images, written material, and Internet sources. The url
is: ===== The Illinois Heritage Online is an electronic newsletter that is posted to IHA members on a monthly basis. To find out more about this nonprofit service organization use this URL: http://www.prairienet.org/iha
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