AMNH Apps Nominated for Webby Awards

Two of the American Museum of Natural History's innovative mobile applications have been nominated for the prestigious Webby Awards, a highly-sought, international award that recognizes "excellence on the internet." The American Museum of Natural History Explorer application, an enhanced mobile navigation application for indoor use, was nominated in two categories-for Best Use of GPS or Location Technology and for Experimental & Innovation-and the Dinosaurs: American Museum of Natural History Collections app, which provides access to world's largest collection of dinosaur fossils, was nominated in the Education & Reference category.

"Throughout its history, the American Museum of Natural History has been a pioneer in presenting science and culture to people in ever-new ways that are accessible, engaging, and inspiring," said Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History. "With our new mobile apps, we are able to connect people to the Museum's exhibits and content in innovative and exciting ways that, we hope, will encourage a deeper connection to science and nature. The Webby nominations come as wonderful validation of the impact and importance of this work."
The Explorer app works with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and uses the Museum's WiFi to function as an "indoor GPS" within the Museum. The app pinpoints a user's location and offers turn-by-turn directions through more than 500,000 square feet of public space that encompasses 46 permanent exhibition halls, theaters, restrooms, cafés, and Museum shops. In addition to serving as a guide, the Explorer is also an educational resource that provides visitors with additional information on more than 140 specimens and objects on display, including such iconic exhibits as the blue whale and the Tyrannosaurus rex. Providing the next generation of museum experience, the Explorer features customized tours, a fossil treasure hunt, and social media links for posting to Facebook and Twitter.

The Dinosaurs app lets paleontologists of all ages explore the Museum's famous fossil halls in depth. More than 800 images and renderings from the Museum's archive-one of the largest collections of dinosaur fossils in the world-are woven together to create a striking image of the world's most famous dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus rex. Subscribers can see what scientists think dinosaurs looked like when they roamed the Earth more than 65 million years ago.

"It is an honor to have our apps selected from the millions currently available for mobile devices, and to be included among such strong nominees," said Linda Perry-Lube, senior vice president and chief digital officer.

Explorer and Dinosaurs were selected as nominees from nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 U.S. states and more than 60 countries worldwide. Both apps are now eligible to win a Webby Award and a People's Voice Award in each of the categories for which they were nominated. The Webby Award honorees will be chosen by members of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, the organization that runs the Webby Awards, while the People's Voice Award will be chosen by the public through online voting (webby.aol.com). The winners of each award in every category will be announced on May 3, 2011.

In addition to Explorer and Dinosaurs, the Museum's collection of apps also includes Cosmic Discoveries, which features an interactive mosaic of nearly 1,000 stunning astronomical images, from the pockmarked surface of Mercury to the majestic Horsehead Nebula. Culled from the Museum's archives and Science Bulletins, as well as from dozens of space agencies and observatories around the world, the photographs are stitched together to form one of the most iconic shapes in our Solar System: the gas giant Saturn and its rings. The apps are available through the App Store (www.iTunes.com/appstore).

American Museum of Natural History (amnh.org)
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world's preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to explore and interpret human cultures and the natural world through a wide-reaching program of scientific research, education, and exhibitions. The Museum accomplishes this ambitious goal through its extensive facilities and resources. The institution houses 46 permanent exhibition halls, state-of-the-art research laboratories, one of the largest natural history libraries in the Western Hemisphere, and a Permanent Collection of more than 32 million specimens and cultural artifacts. The spectacular Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space, which opened in February 2000, features the rebuilt Hayden Planetarium and striking exhibits about the nature of the universe and our planet. With a scientific staff of more than 200, the Museum supports research divisions in anthropology, paleontology, invertebrate and vertebrate zoology, and the physical sciences. With the launch of the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the Museum in 2006, the American Museum of Natural History became the first American museum with the authority to grant the Ph.D. degree. The Museum welcomed approximately 5 million on-site visitors from around the world last year and has produced exhibitions and Space Shows that can currently be seen in venues on five continents, reaching an audience of millions more. In addition, the Museum's website, amnh.org, and growing collection of apps for mobile devices extend its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs to millions beyond the Museum's walls.

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