Searching for new and better ways to accomplish its mission and further its outreach, the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science selected Communication Arts to redevelop its website to engage and cost-effectively provide resources to the various audiences it serves. The MMNS home page maintains its freshness via a routinely updated and captioned image gallery of current activities and seasonal changes at the Museum. Colors, type styles, and graphics continue to reinforce the Museum brand that Communication Arts has managed for more than a decade.

Corner boxes present timely messages without clutter, and color-coded, bold navigation buttons channel the four major user-groups—families/tourists, teachers/students, scientists/developers, and supporters/patrons—with active commands. General and special-interest information is indexed in gray as “Quick Links” through right-side primary navigation, and Museum credentials are proudly displayed.

The four major user-groups of MMNS online services are channeled through section portals—each clearly distinguished by color, individual sub-navigation, and coordinated home page image icon repeated at lower right.

Key to the streamlined efficiencies of the site is the use of links to pop-up windows that display on top of the source page for specific content features, such as the interactive guides for indoor and outdoor exhibits. Roll-overs reveal corresponding images.

Pop-up windows accommodate ongoing changes at the Museum. For example, information about visiting exhibits is presented online, with full resources in scrolling pop-ups that are accessed according to status and use: as a future or current exhibit in the media section, as a planning reference for teachers and tourists on the calendar, or as a past exhibit listing to reflect the contextual caliber of Museum attractions.

Convenient sharing of information is critically important to the Museum’s scientific research team. Data such as the State’s Natural Heritage Program is stored with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks and accessed by researchers and developers for comparative study and planning via concise forms and searchable tables. Other data is available in downloadable files.