‘What’s in a Name’ is a collaboration between Harvard Museums of Science & Culture, the Encyclopedia of Life and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Its goal was to addresses three significant issues: improving public understanding of life on Earth through resources on how scientists describe biodiversity; furthering public understanding of the scientific process, as exemplified by the study of biological species; and creating ways to enable access to the vast amount of data available from museums and libraries. The primary audiences were museum visitors and online users; the materials were
This report summarizes a front-end evaluation of visitors' interest in and knowledge about invasive species. The evaluation was done to inform the Florida Aquarium (FLAQ) exhibit team about visitors' entry-level understanding of the concept, to give the team ideas for ways to connect with visitors' interests in the topic, and to communicate the exhibition's big idea: Invasive species have changed Florida ecologically and economically. The report includes highlights of the findings from interviews conducted on Nov. 8, 2001. Numbers are derived from a handtally of most of the data. (Not included
This report presents the findings from a front-end evaluation of a proposed sharks and rays exhibition conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) for the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA). The evaluation was undertaken to help MBA staff find common ground among the content and interpretation of the sharks and rays exhibition and potential visitors. Data were collected in May 2002 from drop-in visitors at the MBA. The evaluation consisted of two data sets: storyboard interviews with 50 visitor groups and card-sort interviews with 30 visitor groups.
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Monterey Bay Aquarium
This report presents the findings from a front-end evaluation of the Draper Museum of Natural History (DMNH) that is being developed by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (BBHC) in Cody, Wyoming. For this study, Randi Korn & Associates (RK&A) conducted focus groups and interviews to help the exhibition development team better understand the target audiences - tourists and residents - and find common ground between the content, themes, and interpretive strategy of the DMNH and its potential visitors. Data were collected in March, April, and May 2001.
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Buffalo Bill Historical Center
The Indiana State Museum is planning a new, comprehensive exhibition about the history and uses of corn, from 8000 years ago to the present. The environmental, economic, and cultural impacts of the development of corn breeding will be explored. A front-end evaluation was conducted to see what visitors know about the biology and uses of this plant.