Creating an engaging, interactive web presence need not require a big budget or extensive technical know-how.

The Public Humanities Toolbox shows how to take advantage of low cost (often free) web tools to build audiences and present information and collections online. The Toolbox's strength is its reliance on popular, easy to use applications such as WordPress, Flickr, Google Maps, YouTube, and Scribd, to provide cultural organizations with ways to interact with their communities and find new audiences online.

Created by Leah Nahmias and Al Lees, two graduate students in Brown University's Public Humanities Program, the Toolbox website provides one of the best primers on Web 2.0 applications out there.

Written without technical jargon and aimed specifically at the needs of cultural organizations, the Toolbox offers step-by-step instructions as well as frank discussions about the merits (or lack thereof) of specific applications.

A great place to start exploring is the "Handbook", which summarizes the Toolbox's recommendations in a single document.

The Toolbox is targeted at small institutions that lack a dedicated tech person or the budget for outside consultants. The examples of online projects that the Toolbox features are interesting and professional, and full of rich humanities content.

Still, they aren't the slickest websites and larger institutions would be best served by using some of these tools as add-ons to their main website to increase its interactivity. At the same time, because these applications allow site visitors to comment on what they see, identify favorites, or even share their own memories, they are ideal for local organizations that want to build a deeper connection with their communities. 

By Briann Greenfield