ABSTRACT
The new century finds museums in yet another life cycle transition. Issues of varying new media for high-speed access to information, evolving roles and programmes of civic institutions within society and changing styles of teaching and learning – including the long-term cognitive effects of new media/information technologies – have had an unexpected impact on the role of museums in their immediate communities and in the world. Interestingly, they have only become more popular. This is due to a myriad of factors, including an increase in the appeal of social environments for learning, and the growing distrust of other public sources of information. Obviously, this combination of conditions represents a double-edged opportunity for museums: they have the perfect chance to experiment with new ways of interpreting information for an ever growing audience, and a greater risk of being held accountable if they don't get it right.
