Although not brand new, the Web site of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is worth a visit. The What's New link from the homepage leads to 5 different specialized interfaces of the museum's collections: diversity, uses, imagery, currently on view, and advanced. For example, in the imagery section, you can search by Animal, Human, or Object Imagery. In diversity, clicking on a classification icon -- such as Architectural Elements, Costumes and Textiles, Tools and Equipment, or Toys -- takes you to a search screen for just that particular category, and the uses interface has its own set of categories from Adornment to Weaving. The on view interface searches only those objects that are on display, while advanced search covers more of the collection. For example, a search on Costumes and Textiles gets only one item in on view, and 29 in advanced. Another rich area of the site is Exhibitions, with over two dozen available,including selections from shows that have left the physical museum, such as Beautiful Bodies: Form and Decoration of African Pottery and In the Presence of Spirits: African Art from the National Museum of Ethnology, Lisbon.
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