In this article, Jacksonville State University's Amy Cota and Stephen Bitgood address the following evaluation questions: (1) Would label reading decrease when the number of labels is increased? (2) Do groups who visit in families behave differently than groups composed of adults only? and (3) Do label readers view exhibit objects longer than nonreaders? The researchers share findings from a study that evaluated these questions in the Egyptian Mummy gallery at the Anniston Museum of Natural History.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood responds to Roger Miles, a proponent of the Occam's Razor principle in determining the number of exhibit evaluation types, which argues for parsimony (fewest possible). Bitgood offers a rationale for Screven's four-type evaluation model based on multiple dimensions (when, why, how, what and who), accepts Miles's three-stage model of evaluation, and addresses Miles's criticisms of the use of remedial evaluation as one of the evaluation types. which Bitgood argues should not be cut from the list of evaluation types.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Amy Cota summarizes a 1984 "British Journal of Psychology" article written by M.B. Alt and K.M. Shaw, in which the authors attempt to classify museum exhibits in terms of "the way they are perceived by museum visitors." Cota discusses how this research suggests that there are a number of exhibit factors of greater importance than interaction or participation.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood discusses three aspects of designing effective exhibits: (1) the possible criteria for assessing the success of an exhibit; (2) common exhibit design approaches or strategies; and (3) the research and evaluation strategies used to gather information on exhibit effectiveness. Bitgood argues that a better understanding of these three issues can lead to more thoughtful design of exhibits, more careful consideration of approaches, and more reliable and valid measures of success.
In this article, Susan Fisher of the Harn Museum of Art and John J. Koran, Jr. of the Florida Museum of Natural History discuss their study designed to demonstrate the feasibility of conducting evaluations at archeological sites. Specifically, the researchers conducted a summative evaluation of epistemic curiosity and knowledge of Spanish speaking and non-Spanish speaking visitors to the Maya site of Uxmal in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood discusses and questions the commonly-held belief that visitors turn right when entering museum galleries. Based on his research, Bitgood offers a hierarchy of forces that influence visitor turning at choice points.
In this article, Arlene Benefield interviews Marilyn (Molly) Hood, Ph.D., director of Hood Associates. This interview provides the insights of a distinguished audience researcher whose work has helped to awaken the leisure world to aspects of the visiting, and non-visiting, publics of museums and other cultural institutions.
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Visitor Studies AssociationArlene Benefield
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Sherri Lankford summarizes J. Chapman's 1986 lecture at the Society of Environmental Graphics Designers Annual Conference. Chapman conducted a series of 33 studies of wayfinding in hospitals to assist the design development of new facilities geared more toward patient and visitor needs. Key findings from these studies are included in this summary.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Amy Cota provides a summary of a 1993 article in "Environment and Behavior" by Hans-Joachim Klein, in which Klein analyzes visitor circulation in museums. Klein conducted a series of studies of visitor circulation by tracking visitors and recording their behavior on floor maps of the exhibit hall. Key findings from these studies are summarized in this article.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Amy Cota provides a summary of a 1983 article in the International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship by S.A. Griggs. Griggs studied both topographical and conceptual orientation at the British Museum (Natural History). Cota summarizes Griggs's key findings and thirteen recommendations for effective orientation.