Carr: Production was done entirely by an in-house team, which was a tremendous cost savings. Staff time was the primary direct expense. The project manager – assisted by an editor, archivist /historian and web engineer – conducted extensive research and designed and executed the concept.

Here are some thoughts about the museum development process from project manager Jean-Marie Navetta, senior associate for communications and media relations at AAUW.

"The most difficult part, in many ways, was how to tell the story. Because of the dynamic, non-linear nature of the web, deciding what to include – and how to do it – was key. Ultimately, we focused on a few areas or wings (general history, advocacy, scholarship, research) and added two galleries (people and the AAUW buildings) from which we could tell the story.

"We get constant positive feedback that validates our hard work. I was at the National Education Association convention a few weeks ago and an NEA member said, 'I know that this might sound silly, but whenever I'm having a bad day or feeling down about life, I visit the AAUW Online Museum. It makes me feel so good about what we do.' That's so rewarding to hear."

Getting Attention: Sounds like the museum is a hit. How do you promote it?

Carr: We promote the online museum through search engines, print and electronic member communications, announcements to the press and related organizations. We are also aggressively seeking listings and links for the online museum in other online museums and women's history, education and American history sites.

We also encourage members and others to help by providing them with easy-to-use, eye-catching e-postcards with a link to the museum that they can send to others. We've also found that AAUW members have been promoting the museum in their branch newsletters, and member-leaders are beginning to give virtual tours of the online museum in presentations on AAUW in their communities. They tell us that the online museum is a great way to "show and tell" AAUW's story.