The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University had its kick off during the last century (1994). Among other things, at the CHNM website the savvy student finds the internet version of such books as The Presence of the Past or Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web.
Moreover, one of the most recognized and awarded projects is Zotero. Omeka does not stand behind, providing “cultural institutions and individuals with easy-to-use software for publishing collections and creating attractive, standards-based, interoperable online exhibits.” Even the promotional description emphasizes that is a “free and open-source,” a paid version exists with enhanced features that would “satisfy the needs of institutions that lack technical staffs and large budgets” better.
From personal experience, Omeka really works. It offers a simple, and straightforward design that allows the construction of unique sites. As much as with any other platform, the new user will experience the typical learning curve with its necessary frustrations.
The best and more problematic aspect in Omeka is the freedom to create. It can become an overwhelming experience at first, forcing the user to map mentally and virtually how things must look. Again, the learning curve. In addition, while Omeka wants to provide the user with as many choices as possible, it should offer the possibility of restricting those. For example, you may want to create an exhibition, you have to have one or more sections to nest the elements of your exhibit. This could be consider a navigational obstacle for some users who may prefer a direct access for the materials on the exhibition.
One more comment. Usually, browsers like Chrome allow editing options for grammar in various languages, even other Web 2.0 platforms such as WordPress. Sadly, Omeka does not.
The area to create new "pages" does not activate until the user creates first a section