This slide describes historical trends in museum funding, showing the changing shares of government, private, earned income, and investments in museum business models.
This article from Fortune explores business models for free art museums, and the tension between accessibility and the revenue needed for an operating budget.
The National Museum of the American Indian, NY (NMAI-NY) contracted RK&A to conduct a two-phase formative evaluation of the museum’s upcoming Native New York exhibition. The study’s objectives for walk-in visitors and teachers were to understand their baseline knowledge, what piques their interest, potential barriers (confusion or misunderstanding), strategies to help make personal connections, and how/if they understand exhibition outcomes (such as appreciate who Native Americans are today and understand that Native peoples have powerfully shaped and defined New York’s geography, economy, and
In 2012, the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop an exhibition utilizing objects from the former Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (QMDs), contextualizing them in the greater conversation about scientific skepticism and how people make healthcare decisions. The resulting exhibition, Weighing the Evidence, opened in December 2015. This kt, object-based exhibition is organized into four islands of artifacts with accompanying information and hands-on “Try It” interactives, which allow visitors to experience some
The Welcoming Guidelines Task Force was launched in 2014 to compile preferred practices for museums to use in working with LGBTQ professionals and communities. These practices are organized across functions and areas of professional practice with the goal to create a workable document that can be used by professionals and institutions of all kinds. The Guidelines are envisioned as a checklist/assessment that can be applied by individual LGTBQ museum professionals and our allies as a resource to effect change at institutions that serve LGBTQ persons and families and employ LGBTQ staff and
“Are museums perceived as experts – and are they trusted? To what extent?” These are the questions that I hoped to shine a light upon when I requested a topic-specific data cut on cultural organizations from the National Awareness, Attitudes, and Usage Study. The NAAU is an ongoing study regarding market perceptions of visitor-serving organizations and it currently quantifies feedback from over 108,000 respondents. The resulting data reveal important takeaways for museums today – and specifically underscore an important role that the market expects museums to play. As a heads-up, the data
This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing efforts of the museum sector to build a museum perspective of innovation. More specifically, the paper presents a new framework for innovation in museums called the Museum Innovation Model (MIM). The model emerged as a result of Ph.D. research that included a number of museums in the United States and the United Kingdom. The theoretical framework of the model is based on three concepts—open innovation, social enterprise, and social innovation—each of which, the research observed, are growing trends in the museum sector. The proposed paper offers an
The Concord Museum contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a front-end evaluation of its current permanent exhibition gallery—Why Concord?—in preparation for a comprehensive reinterpretation and reinstallation of the museum’s permanent collections funded by an IMLS grant. The goal of the evaluation was to understand the current visitor experience in Why Concord? and to explore visitors’ responses to several ideas the museum is considering for the updated exhibition. Specifically, the evaluation explored the extent to which visitors find history relevant (in general, in the
There are many lenses through which we can measure the value of a museum experience.
There is the satisfaction factor: Did visitors have a good time? Were they engaged? Do they want to return?
There are learning outcomes: Did visitors learn something new? How much did they learn? How did their experience compare to other types of learning experiences?
And there is also meaning-making: Did respondents have a meaningful experience? A memorable one? A connective experience that made them want more?
While all three of these lenses (and many others) are important, meaning-making is
People love stuff. It speaks to them; it reminds them of special moments or people in their lives. They collect it and they love to tell stories about it and show it off. Museums’ deepest roots are in the stuff of collections. But over the last 200 years, the value and importance of collections to effective science interpretation (including exhibits, education, and outreach) has waxed and waned. It is clear from recent studies that using collections in concert with media and interactivity in exhibits and programs yields an extremely effective visitor experience. The recent work of Reach
A collective mass of youthful exuberance pulses through our science centers and museums on any given day. As I visit our ASTC-member institutions around the world, I find it extremely rewarding to watch all that energy being transformed into focused, intense contemplation of specific topics or experiences.
I have always been fascinated by the concept of “dwell time” in our science centers and museums. Dwell time usually refers simply to the period of time visitors spend in an exhibition or at a specific exhibit or activity. This time period can be extended in ways that are not entirely
On the first day of the Science and Society course at the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Cooperstown, New York, I present the students with an incandescent lightbulb, with clear glass so one can easily see the filament inside. I ask the students how it works and they are able to tell me that the electricity comes in there, runs through the filament here, heats up, and produces light. Then I take out my iPhone and slide it across the table and ask, “How does this work?” Blank stares abound.