During the past decade, the massive worldwide conversion of learning content from print and other older media on to digital networks has created gatekeepers who limit access to their digital content or require online users to pay for it.

A variety of gatekeepers have made a third choice:
to open their content freely into the Internet.
These are their stories.

January 11, 2003

Leonardo da Vinci Master Craftsman
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Leonardo drawing
Met Museum

From January 22-March 30, 2003 120 works by Leonardo da Vinci were exhibited in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The event was described as the first comprehensive survey of the artist's drawings ever presented in America. The occasion produced not only a major museum exhibition which enriched the New York cultural scene for two months. A major book and a major web exhibition were created that continue to edify the literary and online art worlds.

The symbiosis between the book that was published and the web exhibition is remarkable. Both are high forms of their own arts, yet they are deeply interdependent. Large portions of the book's text are included in the website. Images from the book are enhanced in the website with digital experiences such as zooming in on the drawing shown above. In the example of the drawing shown, the online visitor can virtually handle the drawing up very close and several degrees of magnification.

The exhibition was supported by Morgan Stanley, with additional support from the National Endowment of the Arts. Clearly the artistic and cultural worth of this wonderful exhibit are large. The exhibit is also an example of open online content as a means to create interest in a book subject and a book itself. Looking at it the other way around, the publication of the book made the creation of a splendid website relatively simple.

It would be interesting to know how much, if any, financial profit the placement of the open content of the Leonardo book into its website might have returned. Some kinds of income that might be stimulated are the awarding of grants for future exhibits and the contributions that are paid by people who visit the museum. Another source of income has been book sales, during the exhibition and since.

Three years after the Leonardo drawings were shown at the Metropolitan Museum, the Met Store lists the book published for the event as a Met Bestseller:
Hardcover Member Price $67.50, Non-Member Price $75.00
Paperback Member Price $31.50, Non-Member Price $35.00

The book is also for sale through other booksellers. At Amazon.com where its Sales Rank on October 25, 2006 was #196,271 the price was $49.50, shown as marked down from the list price $75.00.