This report presents and analyzes the findings from a front-end evaluation of Vicious Fishes and Other Riches, a National Science Foundation-funded traveling exhibition being developed by the Miami Museum of Science in Miami, Florida (MMS) in collaboration with the Science Museum of Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minnesota (SMM). Front-end evaluation helps planners understand how visitors comprehend and think about themes, ideas, concepts, and objects that will be displayed in an exhibition. It seeks common ground between visitors and the exhibition. Findings from the study demonstrate visitors'
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Miami Museum of Science
This report presents findings from a summative evaluation of Go Figure! conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) for the Minnesota Children's Museum (MCM). Go Figure! is a traveling exhibition that is visiting both libraries and children's museums across the country. The exhibition was developed by the Minnesota Children's Museum in collaboration with the American Library Association through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and is intended to engage children two through seven years and their parents in exploring math through hands-on, book-based math
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Minnesota Children's Museum
The purpose of this summative evaluation was to document visitors' use and impressions of Vanishing Wildlife immediately upon viewing the exhibit and, again, several months after their visit. In addition, staff members wanted to determine if the exhibit motivates visitors to perform specific conservation actions once they leave the aquarium. By collecting data three different ways (through timing and tracking observations, on-site exit questionnaires, and telephone questionnaires), and then comparing the results with data from Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) exit surveys, the evaluators were able
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Monterey Bay Aquarium
This report presents the findings from a front-end evaluation for Stormy Weather, a major traveling exhibition on severe storms. This exhibition is being developed through a collaboration among the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, National Museum of Natural History, St. Louis Science Center, and National Severe Storms Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The purpose of conducting a front-end evaluation is to better understand visitors' perceptions and their baseline knowledge regarding a particular subject--in this case, severe storms. The
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Randi KornSmithsonian InstitutionSusan Ades
This report presents and analyzes the findings from a front-end evaluation of an exhibition being developed by the Tech Museum of Innovation about the potential of the Internet. Front-end evaluation helps planners understand how visitors comprehend and think about themes, ideas, concepts, and activities that will be displayed in an exhibition. It seeks common ground between visitors and the exhibit. Findings demonstrate people's understanding of various concepts integral to the exhibition and will inform the Tech during the exhibition development process.
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Tech Museum of Innovation
In May 1999, Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), began a comprehensive summative evaluation of the four permanent galleries and the overall visitor experience of The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California. For this first phase of evaluation, there were four reports - one for each gallery. This document presents the discussion, recommendations, and executive summaries from Phase I. Data for this phase were collected in July and August 1999. The evaluation was undertaken to document the scope of the galleries' impact and effectiveness as well as to identify elements in existing
This report presents the findings from a study conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM), Washington, DC. The study was designed to investigate how visitors respond to the display of the Museum's human remains collection. Specifically, the research objectives were to: determine visitors' motivation for visiting the Museum and their expectations of the Museum identify reactions to a range of specimens, including models, illustrations, wet specimens, skeletal specimens, fetuses, and plastinated specimens ascertain what aspects of the
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.National Museum of Health and Medicine
This report presents the findings of a summative evaluation of Invention at Play, conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Invention at Play is a traveling exhibition developed by the Lemelson Center in partnership with the Science Museum of Minnesota and is funded by The Lemelson Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Data collection took place at two venues: in December 2002 at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.,
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Smithsonian Institution
Audience research inspired this interpretive case study in which the evaluator compared planning for the visitor experience and visitor response to the developed environment in a living history site setting. During 1987-1988, the evaluator spent several months observing and interviewing museum workers and visitors, in situ, at The Gibson House, which is operated by the City of Toronto Historic Museums and Art Centres. The case study included a variety of data triangulation techniques to interpret the visitor experience from multiple perspectives (e.g., Soren, 1990-2000). The Gibson House
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Barbara SorenCity of Toronto Historic Museums and Art Centres
Out of This World: Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy opened at the National Library of Canada (NLC) in Ottawa in May 1995, and a concurrent mini-exhibit was planned for the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy facilities in Toronto. This was expected to be a significant literary event and an effective initiative toward reaching important new audiences. The Library wanted to catalogue their SF collection because science fiction was one of the fastest growing literary genres. The codeveloper of the Exhibition, Allan Weiss, had done extensive research and compiled A
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Barbara SorenLORD Cultural Resources Planning & Management Inc.
The on-line exhibition, Cloth and Clay: Communicating Culture, was a collaborative project involving the Textile Museum of Canada and Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. The two museums with very distinct collections jointly developed the content for this Web site. The development team wanted to create opportunities to: re-unite material from common cultural origins; put objects into their context; find common themes; and, discover new relationships between the collections. They also wanted to reconnect indigenous peoples whose cultures and objects are represented with this material by having them
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) collection features artists from Nova Scotia, as well as Canadian, American, British, and European works. As at many art museums, the issue of whether or not to include written material (extended labels) in exhibitions, and the related issue of who was responsible for the writing, editing, and presentation of labels created tension among educators, curators, and artists. Thus a Labels Project at the AGNS was intended to address this issue, and stimulated a summative evaluation study during 1996. The visitor study reported is a portrait of an institution of
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Barbara SorenArt Gallery of Nova Scotia