With funding from the New York Council on the Arts, MCN developed a prototype mainframe network that was shared by participants from 1968 to 1971.
When the funding ended in 1971, MCN was formally incorporated as a nonprofit organization that has since attracted members from around the world.
As new technology superseded the original shared registration system, MCN evolved into a network of professionals wishing to improve their means of developing, managing, and conveying museum information through the use of automation.
MCN organizes an annual conference, the MCN-L discussion forum, special interest groups, an online directory of museum websites, etc.
[2] Recent Conferences: 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 4–7, 2015,[3] with the title of The Invisible Architectures of Connected Museums.