Home > Cookbook > Why SpicyNodes? > Education & museums

SpicyNodes turns complex information into a richly interactive content portal, and can help your visitors explore your museum collections virtually.

SpicyNodes is also great in the classroom. See the Teacher’s Guide and sample lesson plans for using concept maps.

Your projects and exhibits are meant to be visually savored. With an inviting interface, SpicyNodes nicely complements search engines or other methods of browsing. Visitors can adjust their focus, exposing more information (images, videos, text) in a node, or zoom out for a broader view. For example, visitors to a virtual art collection could drill down to Impressionists > Monet > Water Lilies with a few easy, fun clicks.

In partnership with WebExhibits, we’ve successfully used SpicyNodes to navigate online exhibits. Ready to see it in action? Check out these WebExhibits examples on color chemistry, calendars, Daylight Saving Time, and poetry.

With a few clicks (or taps), visitors can fly to nodes of information. These nodes can be richly illustrated, or link to your existing web pages, multimedia, and other resources. It’s an intuitive and multifaceted way to browse a collection. Best of all, SpicyNodes can grab data from collection management software via a simple XML interface.

• Richly visual and interactive. Present information in a way that’s appealing and easy to navigate way, and that fits seamlessly with your site or exhibits.

• Put visitors in touch with your whole collection. Visitors can fly through a directory of your collection, and then zoom in and out for more information.

• Easy, inviting touch kiosks. SpicyNodes works great on touch screens. Adding these kiosks to your exhibits increases participation and interest.

• Revitalize a depreciating asset. Lost or buried content on your site is rediscovered. With a SpicyNodes site map or content portal, visitors can easily find their way through hundreds or even thousands of nodes.

• Reach visitors you are ignoring. A sizable chuck of Internet users are turned off by long web pages. They want something succinct, visual, and engaging. SpicyNodes grabs their attention, and is a great addition to your current site.

• Do more with less. SpicyNodes is easy to author, without any programming required, yet it produces richly inviting information maps.