Bringing past exhibits and exhibitions to an online research database

A Digital Database for Past Exhibits

The Database: Using inspiration from the Library of Congress’sChronicling America database, this website serves asa small scale example of what could be created in thefuture with the proper funding, skills, and resources.All information featured on this website comes frommy own research for my senior thesis.

This WordPress website serves as a model fordatabase of past exhibits and exhibitions. Using theTitanic Disaster as a subject of display, this siteintends to recreate the various visual displaysdepicting the historical event over time using images,newspaper clippings, and visitor accounts. Ultimately,this website should function as a small scale databasefor researchers to easily search information regardingmuseum and popular displays of the Titanic Disasterfrom 1912 to 2018.

https://digitaldatabaseoftitanicdisplays.wordpress.com

The need for a tool to effectively research museum displays over space and time:

This website comes from a year of research formy senior thesis, which used the Titanic Disasteras a case study with which to examine the rolesof spectacle and commercialism in the museum.Upon conducting my research, I noticed a lack ofresources which could be used to search pastexhibits and exhibitions at museums, or justvisual displays in general. While the Smithsonianoffers their own internal database of pastexhibitions, this does not provide a wholisticview of exhibitionary practice in the UnitedStates over time.

By Amanda Laughead