The Gordon Collection, Digitization and Open Access at the Rijksmuseum | the digital heritage manager

"Within the Rijksstudio website, users can curate their own collections, much like on Pinterest and share them across social media. Users can even upload the derivative works they may have created. Certainly, the strategy seems to have worked. 'The number of visitors greatly increased,' said Peter. He admits, however, 'It is hard to tell if people who are coming to the website also come through the door. The average number of visitors per day since we reopened has doubled.'

'A lot of people are afraid to make their collections available online thinking that people won’t come back to the museum, but the opposite has happened. Seeing the real art is different to seeing it online. A museum visit is also a social thing.'

'When we launched it there was an immediate success that we did not expect. Now after four years later we are still being invited to give lectures to other museums and institutions around the world. This has grown our global brand significantly.'"