Several of these online exhibitions were originally created to accompany exhibitions physically situated at their respective institutions, but a growing percentage exist solely in remotely accessible format.
The website is based on an online guide to library exhibits on the web, created by Andrea Bean Hough in 1995.
Since then, the guide has been curated by Diane Shaw, Special Collections Librarian at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, awarded Editor's Pick to the database in August 2010, saying it was "the most comprehensive source for existing digital exhibitions.
"[1] It was also listed under Best of the Web by New York Public Library and had previously been rewarded Site of the Month by LibrarySpot.