Explore
New ways of discovering the collection
Discover the Australian Prints + Printmaking collection using our five unique exploratory based interfaces.
Explore allows you to discover the collection using five new interfaces especially developed for the Australian Prints + Printmaking site.
These experimental web interfaces aim to encourage exploration and discovery and they created especially for our collection. They seek to step away from the traditional search and browse model - instead of assuming that you know what you want to find - they allow you to engage in a process of open ended exploration.
It is hoped that this process of visual exploration provides an appreciation of the size and diversity of the collection while encouraging you to make new discoveries within it.
Explore Australian Prints + Printmaking was developed as part of Ben Ennis Butler's doctoral work, Escaping the search box: Developing digital interfaces that encourage exploration and discovery in cultural heritage collections.
It is part of our research into 'generous interfaces'. This research project aims to develop new techniques and interfaces that encourage exploration and discovery within large cultural heritage collections online.
This work was developed by Ben Ennis Butler and Mitchell Whitelaw. It was supported by the Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Canberra and the Gordon Darling Australian Pacific Print Fund, National Gallery of Australia.
These interfaces are prototypes. They will work best in modern, standards-compliant web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.