Recollections of Expo 70: Visitors' Experiences and the Retention of Vivid Long‐Term Memories

Abstract This study reports on outcomes of an investigation of visitors' longterm memories of the 1970 Japan World Exposition, Osaka. The paper reports in two parts the emergent outcomes of a study that provides understanding of the nature of visitors' long‐term memories of their experiences in an informal leisure‐time context. First, the paper discusses the common and most dominant recollections that emerged from 48 visitors' memories of this event 34 years ago. An overall explication of visitors' memories of their experiences of the event reveals an interesting mix of reactions: wonderment about the world and the amazing technological advances of the era, blended with personal discomfort and frustrations associated with the memories. These mixed feelings are presented against the backdrop of Japanese national identity re‐emergent on the world stage. Second, an analysis and discussion of qualitative data provides case examples of how three psychological and behavioral factors (affect, agenda fulfillment, and rehearsal) shape the vividness of episodic and/or autobiographical memories of the episodes as they are recalled 34 years later. This paper vividly illustrates the power of qualitative data to illuminate understanding of visitors' long‐term memories and presents some significant issues for museum staff to consider as they plan for visitor experiences that will have lasting impact.     

Visitors' Long‐term Memories of World Expositions

This article reports on the outcomes of a study that investigated the nature and character of visitors' long‐term memories associated with their experiences at large‐scale exhibitions. The study investigated themes that characterized visitors' memories of two global exhibitions: World Expo 86, hosted in Vancouver, Canada in 1986; and World Expo 88, hosted in Brisbane, Australia in 1988. There are a few studies in the literature that have considered long‐term memories associated with visits to informal learning environments, but no studies to date that have considered the impact and long‐term memories associated with large‐scale exhibitions such as world expositions. This study probed the long‐term memories of a total of 50 visitors who attended either Expo 86 or Expo 88, through in‐depth face‐to‐face interviews. Analysis of the interview data suggests that the key themes in memories of these events center on the social dimensions of visitors' experiences, visitors' recalled agendas at the time of the experience, and the socio‐cultural identities of visitors at the time of the experience.     

Beyond Learning: Exploring Visitors' Perceptions of the Value and Benefits of Museum Experiences

Abstract This paper explores the beneficial outcomes that visitors seek and obtain from a museum visit, in terms that are not related to learning outcomes. It uses a deductive qualitative approach to investigate the meaning and value of a museum visit from the visitors' perspective. Three different levels of the meaning of the experience are considered: the attributes of the setting that visitors value; the experiences they engage in; and the benefits they derive. The findings confirm the importance of the “satisfying experiences” framework for understanding visitor experiences in museums, and extend this understanding in relation to the beneficial outcomes these experiences produce. The study also highlights the importance of “restoration” as an outcome of a museum visit. It is argued that the concept of the museum as a restorative environment, which enables visitors to relax and recover from the stresses of life, is worthy of further research attention. These insights will enable museum practitioners to better understand and meet their visitors' multiple needs and expectations.     

Visitors' Role in an Exhibition Debate: Science in American Life

In the year after the exhibition Science in American Life opened at the National Museum of American History objections were raised by the exhibition's chief sponsor, the American Chemical Society, and by the American Physical Society. These critics argued that the exhibition gave the public a negative view of science. The Institutional Studies Office was asked to conduct a study to determine whether or not the exhibition was affecting visitors' views of science, and, if so, in what direction. Using an entrance/exit survey design, the study determined conclusively that the visiting public entered the exhibition with a very positive view of science and technology and that their views were reinforced and confirmed by the experience of Science in American Life, rather than changed in either a positive or negative direction.     

Cognitions,Emotions, and Applications: Participants' Experiences of Learning about Strengths in an Academic Library

This study examined academic library employees' experiences during “strengths education,” a process of learning about individual strengths during a positive psychology intervention. Participants took the Clifton StrengthsFinder test, attended a workshop, and then were interviewed about what they considered to be the effects of the strengths training. The focus of the qualitative analysis was the interviewees' statements about the intrapersonal and interpersonal effects of learning about their strengths. We categorized and coded these statements as cognitions formed, emotions experienced, and applications envisioned. Our findings raise interesting implications for job satisfaction and employee self-esteem, especially during times of change.     

"跑米"血泪记

我是江湾人. "虬江十八湾,弯弯到江湾."江湾是以虬江而得名的.江湾北通吴淞、宝山,南连虹口、闸北等地,是兵家必争之地,故屡遭兵灾.尤其是民国21年(1932年)"一·二八"和民国26年(1937年)的"八·一三"日军侵略战争,江湾均首当其冲,大部分房屋被毁.我家房屋也先后被日寇烧掉过两次,深受其害.     

Thinking about “Scenes”: A New View of Visitors' Influence on Museums

Abstract Sociologists have described “scenes” as voluntary social groupings or figurations that are “… thematically focused cultural networks of people who share certain material and/or cognitive forms of collective stylization,” according to Hitzler, Bucher, and Niederbacher (2001, 20). This terminology is quite useful for thinking about Stephen Weil's assertion that visitors play a role in shaping museums. Through “scenes,” we see how this might happen, and how visitors might already be exerting subtle pressure on the forms and contents of museums. The study of scenes could help us develop a tool that would offer a unique vision of the influences that visitors have on museums.     

Interpreting Apartheid: Visitors' Perceptions of the District Six Museum

This paper builds on and extends the conceptualization of “hot” interpretation (Ballantyne and Uzzell 1993) by presenting empirical data regarding visitors' perceptions of the District Six Museum in Cape Town, South Africa. The study examines visitors' reasons for visiting, expectations of the visit, responses to the visit, and suggestions for change, in relation to the differing needs of previous residents, local and international visitors. Results of the study are discussed in terms of the need to facilitate connections between interpretive content and visitors' previous experiences and knowledge. The paper considers issues of hot interpretation when a community museum increasingly attracts national and international visitors.     

Paying Attention: The Duration and Allocation of Visitors' Time in Museum Exhibitions

The amount of time visitors spend and the number of stops they make in exhibitions are systematic measures that can be indicators of learning. Previous authors have made assumptions about the amount of attention visitors pay to exhibitions based on observations of behavior at single exhibits or other small data samples. This study offers a large database from a comparative investigation of the duration and allocation of visitors' time in 108 exhibitions, and it establishes numerical indexes that reflect patterns of visitor use of the exhibition. These indexes—sweep rate (SRI) and percentage of diligent visitors (%DV)—can be used to compare one exhibition to another, or to compare the same exhibition under two (or more) different circumstances. Patterns of visitor behavior found in many of the study sites included: (1) visitors typically spend less than 20 minutes in exhibitions, regardless of the topic or size; (2) the majority of visitors are not “diligent visitors”—those who stop at more than half of the available elements; (3) on average, visitors use exhibitions at a rate of 200 to 400 square feet per minute; and (4) visitors typically spend less time per unit area in larger exhibitions and diorama halls than in smaller or nondiorama exhibitions. The two indexes (SRI and %DV) may be useful measures for diagnosing and improving the effectiveness of exhibitions, and further study could help identify characteristics of “thoroughly-used” (i.e., successful) exhibitions.     

Shaping a Richer Visitors' Experience: The IPO Interpretive Approach in a Canadian Museum

This article presents an interpretive planner's perspective on the relevance to his work of the Ideas/People/Objects (IPO) visitor experience typology formulated by Pekarik and Mogel ( 2010 ). The value of IPO in shaping the visitor experience for an exhibition on Haitian Vodou is illustrated in practice from the perspective of a number of interpretive and exhibition design tools, with a focus on how the theory was applied on the ground. The success of the model hinges on fusing what are traditionally perceived as distinct approaches to interpretation (intellectual, personal or aesthetic), thus enriching the visitor experience and increasing satisfaction. In conclusion, the success of the approach is evaluated in terms of visitor comments.     

Experiences as an Embedded Librarian in Online Courses

Embedded librarianship gives librarians a prime opportunity to have a direct, positive impact in a clinical setting, classroom setting, or within a working group by providing integrated services that cater to the group's needs. Extending embedded librarian services beyond the various physical settings and into online classrooms is an exceptional way for librarians to engage online learners. This group of students is growing rapidly in numbers and could benefit greatly from having library services and resources incorporated into their classes. The author's services as an embedded librarian in fully online courses at a medium-sized university will be discussed, as will strategies, lessons learned, and opportunities for engaging in this realm. To develop a foundation of knowledge on embedded librarianship, an overview of this topic is provided.     

历史影像中的龙华红色记忆

龙华地区是上海著名的革命历史风貌区,其地域范围大致为龙华路和天钥桥路一带,主要由龙华烈士陵园、原国民党淞沪警备司令部旧址、龙华革命烈士就义地等部分组成.历史上,作为国民党淞沪警备司令部所在地,龙华监狱曾关押了大量中国共产党人和爱国民主进步人士,其中有许多人被杀害于此.新中国成立后,为了纪念在革命事业中牺牲的革命烈士,上海市筹划在龙华设立革命烈士纪念地,龙华经历了从"革命烈士就义地"到"龙华烈士陵园"的发展过程.纵观龙华烈士陵园从创立到发展的过程,与上海早期革命斗争史、上海城市发展史密切相关,成为上海城市历史文脉的一部分,也是中国共产党革命斗争史的重要组成部分.     

Italian technical literature in the field of architectural restoration: The case study of the Historic Memories about the Vatican Church by Giovanni Poleni

This paper provides a theoretical, methodological, and practical contribution to the debate about strategies for the divulgation of the Italian technical literature of the eighteenth century in English-speaking countries with attention to the Italian universities and cultural institutions of the time. The paper contains a survey of the historical bibliography of contemporary translations of non-technical treatises of architecture in the English language and it proceeds to draw up a set of guidelines (decalogue) of different recently proposed methodologies and strategies. It describes the selection of the treatise to translate, relevant to the context and authoritative knowledge in the European scientific background of the eighteenth century; it continues by proposing a synopsis of the original text in the Italian modern language, a strategy used in order to make historical technical treatises accessible to the contemporary scientific Italian language. Approaches and strategies are experimented with in the case study of Historic Memories about the Great Dome of the Vatican Church (Le Memorie Istoriche della Gran Cupola Vaticana) by Giovanni Poleni, one of the most authoritative scholars of eighteenth-century Europe.     

Adult Learning Experiences from an Aquarium Visit: The role of Social Interactions in Family Groups

Abstract How and what adults learn in the context of a family visit to an aquarium is a valuable and important question to ask, given the significance of this demographic to institutions such as these. Based on a larger empirical work,¹ this paper reports on the nature and character of adult learning within a family group context while visiting the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre (Canada), and the longitudinal effects of such experience in the weeks following the visit. In this study a multiple or collective instrumental case study approach was employed to examine the learning experiences of the adult members of 13 family groups; this approach demonstrates that adults visiting the aquarium as part of a family group are active social learners and not merely facilitators of the experience for younger visitors or caregivers. Our outcomes also indicate that the adult members of the participant family groups learned in a multiplicity of domains including the cognitive, the social, and the affective, as a result of their visit to the Vancouver Aquarium. In addition, we discuss the longitudinal impacts of the aquarium visit and provide valuable insights as to the relevance of these experiences in visitors' everyday lives.     

Impact of National Aquarium in Baltimore on Visitors' Conservation Attitudes,Behavior, and Knowledge

This study at the National Aquarium in Baltimore (NAIB) was conducted to assess four key aspects of the visitor experience: (1) incoming conservation knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of NAIB visitors; (2) patterns of use and interaction with exhibition components throughout the NAIB; (3) exiting conservation knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of visitors; and (4) over time, how the NAIB experience altered or affected individuals' conservation knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Three hundred six visitors participated in the study, which was conducted from March through July, 1999. The study utilized four data‐collection techniques: (1) face‐to‐face interviews, (2) Personal Meaning Mapping (PMM), (3) tracking, and (4) follow‐up telephone interviews. Participants were a self‐selected population and were generally more knowledgeable about, more concerned about, and more involved in conservation‐related issues than the general public. However, they were far from conservationists. Visitors in this study clearly absorbed the fundamental conservation message at the NAIB. In fact, the NAIB visit appeared to focus visitors' conservation‐related thoughts, while also broadening their understanding of conservation. Changes in visitors' conservation knowledge, understanding, and interests by and large persisted over six to eight weeks after visiting NAIB. The NAIB experience also connected to visitors' lives in a variety of ways following their visit. However, these personal experiences rarely resulted in new conservation actions. In fact, their enthusiasm and emotional commitment to conservation (inspired during the NAIB visit) generally fell back to original levels, presumably in the absence of reinforcing experiences. The findings of this study are guiding subsequent investigations at the NAIB. More generally, the results suggest strategies to enhance current understanding of the impact free‐choice learning institutions have on their visiting public.     

Communicating the Value of an Institutional Repository: Experiences at Ghana's University for Development Studies

ABSTRACT

The quality of research depends greatly on access to existing information. Institutional repositories (IRs) have the potential to enhance and promote the dissemination of knowledge and research. This may lead to discoveries and innovation alongside maximizing return on investment in research and development. Following some background information, this article briefly discusses the processes involved in the establishment of Ghana's University for Development Studies (UDS) IR (UDSspace). Marketing and advocacy strategies employed to engage Faculty to enable them to contribute meaningfully and effectively in the populating of the IR are outlined and benefits described. The study uses a quantitative method. A questionnaire was used to elicit data from faculty. This article describes the various communication methods used to promote the IR and evaluates their effectiveness in getting users to participate in populating the IR. The survey found that although as high as 80.3% of respondents were aware of the benefits of an IR and 66.2% were aware of the existence of the UDS IR, 86.8% of respondents had not submitted to the IR.     

Memories of Manga: Impact and Nostalgic Recollections of Visiting a Manga Museum

This study investigated the impact of a visit to a Manga museum in Japan through nostalgic recollections. Twenty‐five adult visitors were interviewed about their childhood memories of experiencing manga from reading books as well as watching anime on television following a visit to the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka, Japan. From 76 episodic and autobiographical memories, five themes of impact emerged which speak powerfully to the significant influence and power of Osamu Tezuka's manga and anime on the visitors’ lives as children, and of the power of the museum experience to unlock distant latent memories and reconnect with their own sense of self‐identity. Moreover, the visitors’ own testimony of the impact of manga continued to manifest positively in their lives to the present day as life lessons of enjoyment, morality, and intergenerational learning.     

农科期刊与学会合作出版专刊的实践——以《浙江农业科学》为例

根据《浙江农业科学》与学会(协会)合作出版专刊的办刊实践,认为农科期刊与农口学会合作出版专刊具有目标一致、优势互补、效果良好的特点,总结出配合“三农”大政方针选题,制订周密的合作出版计划,分头落实,定期交流的体会与经验.