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resource research Exhibitions
In this article, Kathleen F. Wagner, Senior Vice President of Education at the Philadelphia Zoo, discusses the importance of institutional acceptance of visitor evaluation. She offers a 12-step approach to institutionalizing evaluation.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Kathleen F. Wagner
resource research Public Programs
In this article, Michael Spock, of the Informal Learning Program at the University of Chicago, discusses his fundamental and situational concerns that surround the practice of museum exhibit and program evaluation. Spock offers observations on the situational politics from his exhibit evaluation work at the Field Museum and suggests how semantics plays a more fundamental role in the evaluation process.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Michael Spock
resource research Exhibitions
In this article, Kathleen Socolofsky of the Desert Botanical Gardens discusses the history of the institution, highlighting shifts in its mission and exhibit strategies. In particular, Socolofsky outlines the steps staff used in gaining institutional acceptance of visitor evaluation and in affecting the long-term acceptance of visitor-centered approaches to exhibits as well as the outcomes of this institutional acceptance.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Kathleen Socolofsky
resource research Public Programs
In this article, Harris Shettel, an evaluation consultant, discusses the politics of evaluation and how the recent use of visitor data to inform decision making at all levels qualifies as a paradigm shift in the approach taken to museum public programming.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Harris Shettel Visitor Studies Association
resource research Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This paper offers a simple view of the institutionalization process and describes case studies of three institutions (High Desert Museum, Chicago Academy of Sciences, and Chicago Children's Museum). It is a summary of remarks from the 1994 Visitor Studies Conference in Raleigh, NC.
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TEAM MEMBERS: D. Perry K. Ronning J. Siska S. Weaver Erica Reed Visitor Studies Association
resource research Exhibitions
This article provides an abstract of Jane Marie Litwak, Ph.D.'s dissertation. The dissertation applied concepts from cognitive psychology to the design of museum exhibit labels in an effort to direct visitor attention and increase learning in museum settings.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Jane Marie Litwak, Ph. D.
resource research Exhibitions
In this article, Marilyn G. Hood of Hood Associates, discusses the importance of high response rates to museum audience research. Hood argues that museums can produce more reliable, accurate measurements of their work by becoming knowledgeable about about questionnaire design, sampling, and appropriate response rates.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Marilyn G. Hood
resource research Media and Technology
In the title of this very brief article, Marilyn Hood, of Hood Associates, poses the question "Can aquariums, zoos and museums use TV to educate?" and then goes on to cite a Ohio State University study. The study found that high school students may retain information from watching TV as well as they do from listening to a classroom lecture.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Marilyn Hood
resource research Public Programs
In this brief article, Pete Conroy, Curator of Natural History at the Anniston Museum of Natural History, discusses his tactics for successfully grabbing the attention of kids during his wildlife lectures. He uses distasteful potty humor to make his presentations more effective.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Pete Conroy
resource research Exhibitions
In this article, Alan J. Friedman, Director of the New York Hall of Science, analyzes why museums don't participate in formal evaluation and looks to science and technology centers for answers. Friedman calls for better educating museum scientists and leadership about the values of evaluation, acknowledgment of the consequences of the lack of evaluation, and how to achieve better discipline in the exhibit development process.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Alan J. Friedman
resource research Exhibitions
In this article, Stephen Bitgood of Jacksonville State University provides a review and overview of how institutions accept and implement visitor evaluation findings. Bitgood presents a brief review of literature that illustrate the problem of institutional acceptance, outlines the levels of institutional acceptance, and suggests ways for improving institutional acceptance.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Stephen Bitgood
resource research Public Programs
In this article, staff at the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History discuss the efforts of the Learning in Informal Settings Program, including three international evaluation studies.
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TEAM MEMBERS: John J. Koran, Jr. Mary Lou Koran Betty Dunckel Camp Anne E. Donnelly