Web Smarts

http://www.museumshop.com

WHAT: The Museum Shop Web site offers opportunities for interactive shopping for unusual gifts from a consortium of museum shops.

BEST POINTS: Explore museums and historical sites around the world - from the Adirondack Museum to the Louvre, Boston's Museum of Science to the Regional Museums of Spain. Find out the price of admission, hours, contact information, and upcoming exhibitions of the more than 40 museums listed.

When you finish planning your trip to the museums, start shopping. You can search by museum, artist, or period. Looking for a gold-plated Byzantine cross or a van Gogh Sunflowers mini-lunchbox? Or perhaps a Nepali handmade book? Not all gifts are as expensive as the $695 sculpture of "Woman Bathing" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You may purchase items like a $13 mummy puzzle from the British Museum or a $19.95 Georgia O'Keeffe address book from the Newark (N.J.) Museum. Videos, books, stationery, ornaments, corporate gifts, toys, and games are also available.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: It is not necessary to register, although if you do, a $5 discount is promised on your first purchase. The site is continually adding new museums and becoming more international with each additional partner.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society