On the Road with Rock and Soul

This article reports on a study conducted for an exhibition team at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (NMAH). As part of the planning process for a major exhibition, we studied visitors at a small preview exhibition, The Social Roots of Rock and Soul. Personal interviews, including a tape-recorded portion in front of the Rock and Soul display about the images and the themes, were conducted at four venues of the Smithsonian's 150th Anniversary traveling exhibition, America's Smithsonian (Los Angeles, Kansas City, St. Paul, and Houston). The most significant finding from visitor responses is strong regional differences. The study also showed that visitors responded to the images and storyline differently, depending on whether the material was presented through video or panels.     

In Byzantium1

During Spring 1997 we experimented with a research method combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to documenting visitor experiences in The Glory of Byzantium, a special exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to using standard demographic and behavior surveys, a small team of researchers and volunteers gathered information, compared experiences, and summarized their observations of people in the exhibition. Each team member conducted about a dozen structured conversations with visitors as they left the exhibition. Subsequently the team met as an informal focus group to describe their experiences. We found that many museum users arrived with relevant experiences and high expectations for this somewhat specialized exhibition; we also found users whose approach to the exhibition was less well‐informed, but whose enthusiasm and trust for the museum experience moved them to attend with satisfaction. We believe that such team approaches to research might well be used as a regular part of museum work as we search for answers to the many elusive questions about museum use.     

Learning From Kids: Connecting the Exhibition Process to the Audience

Abstract When the Chicago History Museum re‐opened its doors on September 30, 2006 after a 21‐month‐long renovation, the debut included a new interactive history gallery for families. The exhibition, Sensing Chicago, was designed primarily to appeal to and communicate effectively with eight‐ and nine‐year‐old children. Since this was a new target audience for the museum's exhibition program, the team followed a course for this project that departed from the museum's typical exhibition development. The process was informed by audience research that has broadened our understanding of how a collections‐based history museum that traditionally caters to adult audiences can create meaningful and memorable experiences for children. This article focuses on one aspect of the research, a three‐month concept‐testing phase conducted by in‐house staff, which provided the team with useful information that, in turn, impacted the development and design of the gallery.     

A Case Study of “Planetary Landscapes: Sculpting the Solar System”

This article presents a case study of the design, development and evaluation of a science museum exhibition called Planetary Landscapes: Sculpting the Solar System. The exhibition was created by Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, California, in collaboration with the artist Ned Kahn. (A slightly smaller version has been traveling to science museums around the country, and has been sent to the Middle East and Asia.) This exhibition affords a chance to explore the work of a gifted artist as he seeks to merge art and science and create beautiful inquiry‐based exhibits. The story also relates how a museum design team and an evaluation team sought to support the exhibition design in ways that would augment and not interfere with the expertise of the artist.     

The Making of “America on the Move” at the National Museum of American History

This case study examines the curatorial challenges of producing a very large exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History from 1999 to 2003. This is an insider's look at how a cross‐functional exhibition team worked to produce a compelling new exhibition. Among the issues addressed are: development of a theme; choice and use of artifacts; presentation organization and techniques; issues of truth, authenticity and accuracy in history exhibitions; and practical issues of exhibition team organization and contract management.     

The Power of Expectation

Abstract In 1999, the first author and his colleagues at the Smithsonian Institution published an article in Curator: The Museum Journal introducing research on the experiences visitors find satisfying in museums. Subsequent data collection has expanded on these findings, as this Research Note will elucidate. In general, the team found that experiences that visitors were looking forward to on entrance tended to have a distribution similar to that of the experiences they found satisfying on exit. The aim of this note is to present data that demonstrates this consistency, and to observe that visitors’ expectations that they would have certain types of experiences upon entering a museum or exhibition were a much larger factor in determining their responses than were minor differences in museum or exhibition content or presentation. In other words, on the whole they came in knowing what experiences they expected, and they left having found them, regardless of what museum personnel presented to them inside.     

Ideas,Objects, or People? A Smithsonian Exhibition Team Views Visitors Anew

Abstract An exhibition team at the National Museum of the American Indian, working with a visitor studies specialist from the Smithsonian’s Office of Policy and Analysis, used visitor studies conducted by the entire team during planning for a reinstallation of part of the permanent collection. The studies evolved organically during the exhibition planning as questions and hypotheses arose among the team. The answers led to further studies. This research model brought team members together in a spirit of inquiry and a process of discovery, changed their perceptions of themselves and their subjects, and suggested a new typology of visitors.     

高校图书馆在展览服务中的馆际合作研究——以上海高校图书馆展览资源共建共享联盟为例

[目的/意义]针对当前我国高校图书馆展览服务需求与资源之间的矛盾,调研上海高校图书馆展览资源共建共享联盟成员之间进行合作的动因、方式及可持续发展策略,对其实践进行总结和展望,为其他馆提供借鉴。[方法/过程]对该联盟10所成员馆展览业务负责人进行问卷调查,对调查所获资料进行分析总结,辅以文献调研加以梳理。[结果/结论]高校图书馆在展览服务中有着展览资源短缺、拥有共同目标、展览特色互补等合作动因,存在分享展览信息、互换展览资源、抱团对外谈判、共同制作展览等合作和利益共享策略;认为还可从扩宽展览主题和深度、利用和学习其他外部机构资源和经验、联合培训工作人员、运用科学方法进行效果跟踪和评价等方式开展进一步合作。     

Diversity and the Museum of London

Increasingly, some — but not all — urban history museums are facing the challenges of reaching out to and serving growingly diversified populations. Described here is the Museum of London's The Peopling of London, which recognizes the history and contributions of immigrant communities and their descendants. Planning for the exhibition required an about face from the museum's traditional in-house method of exhibition development — involving members of minority communities. Both the planning process and the resulting exhibition serve as a model for consideration and possibly emulation as urban history museums look at the growing diversification of the populations they serve.     

Communication and Persuasion in a Didactic Exhibition: The Power of Maps Study

This article describes a study of The Power of Maps, an exhibition presented in 1992 at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in New York City. The study compared the result of surveys administered to visitors at the Cooper-Hewitt as they entered and exited the exhibition with a control group of surveys administered to visitors at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, who had not seen The Power of Maps exhibition. It was found that visitors who were surveyed as they entered the exhibition were closer in agreement with the message of the exhibition than the control group. It was also found that visitors surveyed upon exiting The Power of Maps exhibition were in closer agreement with the message of the exhibition than with visitors who were surveyed as they entered the exhibition. The study demonstrates that it is possible to document a change in visitors' conceptions about a topic as a result of hearing about or visiting an exhibition and reliably determine the degree to which exhibitions can influence visitors.     

Hall of Mirrors: The Dilemmas of Presenting Information Technology Culture Through Information Technology Interactives and Artifacts

This paper examines how the problem of exhibiting computing artifacts was confronted by the development team of the Powerhouse Museum's new computing exhibition: Universal Machine. Universal Machine uses a mix of objects, activity trails and computer-based audiovisual and interactive technologies to take visitors on a journey through the origins, meaning and impact of contemporary information technology. It explores the interpretive partnerships developed between objects, new and traditional media, as well as the ways in which experience-based and multiple intelligence education theory informed design and content development.     

Finding Common Ground

Teen Tokyo, a 3,000-square-foot, $1-million long-term exhibition at The Children's Museum, Boston, opened in 1992. It was developed to complement the museum's permanent Japanese House exhibition and to further its commitment to teaching about cultural differences and similarities. Designed primarily, but not exclusively, for youngsters aged 10 to 15 years, it is about growing up in contemporary Japan and the international culture of youth. An international team of developers, designers, and consultants spent five years preparing and funding the exhibition, using formative evaluation throughout. The project also included publication of a 50-page catalogue/curriculum unit.     

展览设计流程:展览设计水平和展示效果的保证

科学的展览设计流程往往是保证展览设计水平和展示教育效果的重要基础。相较于国际著名的科技博物馆,我国科技馆在设计建设或更新改造中出现的问题主要根源于展览设计流程的不清晰。本文首先介绍美国富兰克林科技馆最新成功打造的新展厅情况,简要介绍其经历的过程和取得的成果,然后重点引入并分析富兰克林科技馆的展览设计流程,最后分析其对我国科技馆的设计建设和更新改造工作有何参考和启示作用。     

Measuring Success in the “Congo Gorilla Forest” Conservation Exhibition

Abstract Most zoo visitors are primarily motivated by the joys of watching animals, which may preclude attention to major ecological issues that are the focus of research in biodiversity, habitats, and other matters pertaining to the survival of wild animals. The Wildlife Conservation Society exhibition Congo Gorilla Forest is a popular animal‐watching experience, but it also communicates considerable educational content, stimulating visitors' interest in and awareness of ecological relationships. This article reviews the phases of an evaluation process that assisted WCS staff in making decisions about exhibition design and interpretation; it discusses measurement challenges in assessing outcomes; and it uses key findings from the evaluation process to define and explain the interpretive success of the project. Success for this conservation exhibition is described in terms of achieving three educational goals while recognizing the diversity among audiences. The exhibition's effectiveness is attributed to understanding visitors' expectations and interests, creating an array of exhibit formats to engage people, and communicating conservation messages visually and experientially.     

新谈科普展览设计中叙事知识链的构建——以“同构能源格局”常设展览为例

为进一步加强国家能源科普能力建设,继续深化科普效果,助力国家能源发展战略的实施,中国科技馆策展团队结合能源领域的科技创新成果及新型展示技术,研发“同构能源格局”常设展览。本文从展览目标确定、技术路线设计、展览框架搭建、展品内容规划、展示形式设计和布展环境设计等方面探讨在科普展览中构建叙事知识链的方法,阐述能源展览在开发过程中的思考与实践,以期对同类展览研发提供有益参考。     

Environmental Issues in the Museum: Applying Public Perceptions in Exhibition Development

This paper describes an exhibition on radiation* and the environment. In the exhibition-development process, students' and lay people's conceptions on radiation issues as described in the literature were considered. How these conceptions and the theoretical frame of constructivism may guide exhibition development is discussed. Whether an exhibition of this kind can facilitate cognitive change and aid personal judgment in environmental matters is considered on the basis of data from 16-year-olds' use of the exhibition.     

不同观点，共同目标:为观众策划更好的展览—— “博物馆展览策划的理论与实践学术研讨会暨第三届科博论坛”侧记

2019年10月26—27日,“博物馆展览策划的理论与实践学术研讨会暨第三届科博论坛”在浙江杭州召开,会议围绕博物馆展览面临的挑战与对策展开了深入探讨,分享了不同领域与背景的观点。当今的中国博物馆展览发展迅速,建立起符合中国自身特点的策展机制,能为策划“好展览”提供制度性保障。以此为基础,立足于博物馆使命,策展团队通过提炼展览主题,采用多元的叙事方式、叙事视角、叙述语言以及视觉传达等手段,能为观众策划出更多有思想、有品质的好展览。     

Small Wonder: Using SEM Images to Exhibit the “Small Stuff”

Abstract Digital image enlargements can be a powerful method for displaying small specimens in museums. In 2007, the Royal Alberta Museum held an exhibition of 28 SEM (scanning electron microscope) images of seeds and other subfossil macroremains, which were shown in a fine‐art format. The exhibition was prepared by a museum team using images derived from in‐house curatorial research work. This paper describes the exhibition components and reports on an attempt to engage the visitors more closely with the images by asking them to suggest identifications for some “mystery” specimens.