[MassHistPres] what makes an excellent historical museum ?

[jdianeol at aol.com]

 Gregg- My thoughts...

First & foremost, what makes any exhibit successful is a good & compelling story.? If your exhibit does not
tell a story you've missed the boat.? If it doesn't tell a compelling
story that people are interested in knowing more about then your boat
is just a dingy and your visitors will abandon ship early.

As an exhibit designer, what I think makes a good history museum is one that looks at both the everyday normalities of history as well as the unique & interesting quirks.? Looking only at the unique tends to disconnect history from most of us who consider ourselves to be "ordinary, regular, everyday joes".?? Good exhibits I've seen include 2 from the Connecticut Historical Society Museum (both very low budget), "Comics" (no explanation needed) and "Clean" which dealt with the evolution of everyday housework & hygiene.? Unfortunately, the lead designers for these exhibits are no longer on staff.? Some of the very best were at the Royal V&A in London where they provided some interaction/discovery stations throughout their major exhibits int the British Galleries so that younger members had a chance to try their hands... and BTW, the grown-ups had a ball doing likewise... but SHHH!? don't tell!? They had costumes to try on for photos, weaving and sewing stations, Design-a-Perio!
 d-Outfit stations, discovery boxes, "Build a Chair" kits that showed chair evolution (or not) through decades, etc.? By pulling these stations out from the main loop to side areas it allowed visitors to opt in or move along as might suit their visiting purpose.? The happy noise from the interaction stations did not impede upon the exhibit overall, but was obvious enough to draw visitors in.? The main exhibit still had interactives within and throughout, but always these were elements that added to the story by allwoing visitors to see, hear, feel or do for themselves.? Good history exhibits seem frequently to illustrate the saying that "the more things change, the more they stay the same".? When they don't, they almost always show how things have decidely changed for the better (e.g. slavery, civil rights, women's rights, etc)

In a history museum, it is really essential to have a good combination of interactives and artifacts for viewing.? It gets SO old just walking past & looking AT stuff but never getting to touch or feel or smell or DO for yourself.? So, what makes a good interactive?? Wow... perhaps easier to define what does NOT make a good interactive.? Flip panels (aka lift & drop) or sliders for text (typically questions & answers) do let visitors put their hands on something, though not an artifact, and do show some improvement in visitors' attention to reading labels, but if it's just a ploy to get them to read more, the impact is minimal and you lose the visitors quickly.? If a flip panel or slider is also combined with artifacts and a quiz, game or other surprise, the impact is greater.? 

However, the best interactives take some element of the story being told and allow the visitors to feel, try, sample, do or discover for themselves. For example, you can compare the relative ease of an old tech vs. a new one, allow a demonstration of how to study an antique for key clues to authenticity, or some other way of allowing the visitors to put themselves into the story.? Since artifacts tend to be rare & hence valuable, this often means fabricating a reproduction.? A good goal to strive for is increased interaction between members of a visiting party since most people attend museums in groups with a goal of a "fun or educational outing" with their... family, friends, out of town guests, etc.? So, look for interactives that require more than 2 hands to be completed successfully, hence requiring group interaction.? The "Build a Chair" kits in London were absolutely hysterical examples of this!? 

An answer to this question could be a book.? There are entire professional conferences (AASLH, AAM) and graduate degrees devoted to answering this... I hope my synopsis of thoughts is of some usefulness.

Diane Oliver-Jensen, rla, LEED AP
West Brookfield


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Gregg <gregg.rob at verizon.net>
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Sent: Mon, Jun 29, 2009 6:12 am
Subject: [MassHistPres] what makes an excellent historical museum ?
















I am looking to gather some resources which 
inform as to the top characteristics of historical museums. What makes good 
interactive exhibits?


?


Thank you for your help.


?


Rob Gregg


Medfield

 





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