The National Archives

The museum website that I will be reviewing is the National Archives. The mission statement for this museum is to keep and maintain all the important documents, legal and historical, pertaining to American history and keep those documents in a safe environment so they can be used and learned from.
This website does a wonderful job of catering to everyone’s needs from the general public to researchers to genealogists to teachers. It has something for everyone and is set up so that everyone can find just what they are looking for. It also has a way of narrowing the subject from a broad over view of something to a specific book or document that a person needs. The links are very clear and let the person looking know exactly what is under the title and if they will find what they are looking for. For instance I found the mission statement in about 15 seconds. Usually mission statements are much harder to find than that. It is also helpful that the general architecture of the page is repeated in all the sub pages after you click on something on the home page, the links are always on the left the information you want to know in the middle and the search bar on the right.
Another handy tool that is on the main page is the “Español” button at the top. I think that this is a great addition to the page because as a country that harbors many languages it makes the page so much more accessible to people who may not speak or read English the best or at all.
I think that this website helps further the mission statement because it makes important documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution available for everyone without having to travel to Washington D.C. to see them. Also with its online exhibits people can learn at home and see the exhibits again without having to travel to see them. Also having an online exhibit gives it a sense of interactivity and the person looking is more involved because they can choose what to look at and what to pass up.
Over all I think that this website is a great example of what museums should be doing, it is easy to navigate and the wording is simple so that everyday people can understand what they are looking at. It is consistent in its architecture and language and really brings the reader and audience into the museum without actually having to be there.