This paper is intended to provide the beginnings of a blueprint to help exhibition developers, in whatever role they may hold, to understand how visitors use exhibitions and exhibits. It describes the process and findings of researchers at the Science Museum in London, who created a "model of visitor behavior."
In this paper, researchers from the Smithsonian Institution (SI) describe the ways in which SI is welcoming the Americans with Disabilities Act as an aid in empowering visitors and employees with disabilities.
In this paper, the Franklin Institute's Ann Mintz discusses the managerial challenges associated with evaluation projects. Mintz explains how evaluators teeter on a continuum serving as both as artists and educators throughout the evaluation process. She cites evidence from an ongoing project at the Franklin Institute called the The Franklin Institute Computer Network that serves seven categories of museum visitors.
In this paper/talk, Roger S. Miles of London's Natural History Museum in London discusses the topic of exhibition teams. Miles argues that an exhibition closely reflects (or models) the team that puts it together and offers suggestions with examples for building successful teams and therefore, successful exhibits.
This paper examines the museum visitor, and conjointly, the exhibition media to be understand the concept of the visitor through trends of thought that have defined it over time. Researcher Bernard Shiele discusses the role of the visitor as an essential factor in museum discourse as well as the focus of this discourse.
In this paper, evaluator Marilyn G. Hood of Hood Associates examines 70 years of audience research and what we know about frequent visitors versus occasional visitors. Hood recommends broadening evaluators' perspective of visitor research to include literature from the fields of sociology, leisure science, consumer behavior, and psychology.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marilyn Hood
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this VSA presidential address, Harris Shettel discusses the new VSA Mission Statement and some of the issues Shettel sees facing VSA as it begins its second full year of existence.
In this paper, Chris Steiner of the Albuquerque Museum investigates evaluation and its relation to art programs and organization. Steiner explores questions related to the appropriateness of evaluation in the art realm as well as new methods designed to facilitate the artistic creativity associated with the arts. Steiner presents eleven guidelines and recommendations for facilitating evaluation as an ongoing open-system-based process for arts organizations.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Chris Steiner
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this paper, evaluator Marilyn G. Hood, Ph.D. of Hood Associates discusses learning opportunities from projects, programs and plans that don't go as planned. Hood presents examples from her career and argues that it is essential to report failed or difficult experiences to the rest of the field to help colleagues avoid the same problems and to advance the field of visitor studies.
This paper discusses the whole evaluation process and draws from a new communications evaluation program which covers live communication programs as well as exhibitions at Parks Canada, Quebec Region. This paper address the client's role and the evaluator's conduct: addressing a request, choosing a consultant, giving support, and applying results.
In this paper, Alan J. Friedman, director of the New York Hall of Science, discusses the importance of evaluation, specifically formative evaluation, for measuring success at a museum and fulfilling mission statements. Friedman presents four real examples of exhibit projects, in which the directors or exhibit directors involved elected to expend funds for formative evaluation. Friedman goes on to discuss the benefits of this research and what surprising information staff came to know as a result.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Alan J. Friedman
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This paper presents a transcript from a panel discussion at a VSA program gathered to explore issues of concern related to the life of the "in-house evaluator." Three panelists, experience in-house evaluators, discuss their personal solutions to these issues and contradictions raised by this unique position, in the hope of helping professionals new to the task.