It used to be a tedious process to view or acquire images from museums.  Now, you just need a computer to access entire collections, for free.

The New York Times breaks down how museums are innovating on the Internet and social media for today's two-way relationship with actual and virtual visitors.

Besides posting sometimes tens of thousands of images online--along with exhibition catalogs, blogs, videos and commentary--some museums are taking the next step to interconnect information. For example, the National Gallery's online discussion of a Rogier van der Weyden painting contains a link to a Met essay on the period, taking a step towards deepening scholarship.