Anson Engine Museum

Anson Engine Museum
The Anson Engine Museum is an industrial museum dedicated to the history of the Internal Combustion engine. It is one of the largest collections of engines in Europe

1.selection decisions: The site boasts that the collection is one of the largest in Europe but I cannot tell if the entire collection is digitized. The site counts that there are 382 files to be seen but many of these files appear to be taken at special events that were happening at the museum and the engine just happens to be in the background. What I found very interesting is that every digitized photograph has a counter that tells you how many people viewed it. You can also search the collection as to what is most popular by views or downloads also the viewer is allowed to give a star rating to the photo. This would lead me to believe that maybe they only digitize what they feel will be most popular with the viewing audience.

2. metedata: You are allowed either to show or hide the metadata for each photo. It includes the name of the item and the the location within the site, the file name, the file size, the date it was added to the site, the dimensions of the photograph but, the url for the particular photo and how many times it has been displayed. I don't know if the displayed category means how many times the photo has been displayed or how many times the metadata for the photo has been displayed.

3. characteristics: The collection was arranged in albums and you could look through the albums yourself or have them presented as a slide show. Only some of the photographs had the option to "zoom" but when you did "zoom" the photo just got larger and now necessarily closer or more detailed. There was a forward and backward button on each individual page and an option to go back to a thumbnail version. The site was very easy to navigate and find the pieces but it didn't seem like they spent any actual time thinking about what they were digitizing but rather how good the site looked.

4. audience: If I had to guess who the intended audience was I would have to say the benefactors of the museum or anyone interested in donating money. The home page has a very visible notice about donations and how the museum does not receive any government or public funding. Also, there are a whole lot of pictures mixed in the collection of people standing in front of the exhibits at what appears to be fund raising events or community outreach events.