Category: Interpretation

It’s just a good day out, or: What if interpretation doesn’t matter?

I have a confession to make: as I prepared for my first weekend of field research last week, I was suddenly overcome by a terrible fear.  What if it turns out that interpretation has no real importance to visitors?  What if they don’t come because it’s heritage? Quite a few of the staff involved at … Continue reading It’s just a good day out, or: What if interpretation doesn’t matter? →

Creative Visitor Surveys: An example

I’m a big fan of gathering people’s views and ideas in a creative way.  Don’t get me wrong: I’m also religious about doing ‘formal’ visitor surveys.  They’re great for capturing evidence and hard data for our decision-makers in an economic fashion, and yes, if we ask the right questions, they will also give us some … Continue reading Creative Visitor Surveys: An example →

Visitor Experiences of Co-produced Exhibitions

Last week I attended an excellent workshop on ‘Visitor Experiences of Co-produced Exhibitions’.  Co-production is a central theme in museums at the moment, and participants were encouraged to bring their own experiences of co-production to the workshop for discussion.  I came away with a few good points to ponder, which you might find interesting as … Continue reading Visitor Experiences of Co-produced Exhibitions →

Evaluation and Impact Studies: A note from a conference in Germany

I spent the last weekend at the annual conference of the German Bundesverband fuer Museumspaedagogik.  It focussed on measuring the impact of interpretation, a subject that is even newer in Germany than it is in the UK.  There were a few things that I found interesting, and which I’d like to share here:   Cultural … Continue reading Evaluation and Impact Studies: A note from a conference in Germany →

News programmes, not feature films, Or: Should we ditch permanent exhibitions?

I was quite intrigued by the lead article in the current edition of the Museums Journal [1].  In essence, the article asks whether we should move away from permanent exhibitions, using the number of visitors, and of repeat visits in particular, as the yardstick by which to measure value for money when it comes to … Continue reading News programmes, not feature films, Or: Should we ditch permanent exhibitions? →

A Truly Democratic Model for Interpretation

Last week, I had a meeting with our Interpretation Stakeholder Group.  We discussed the interpretive vision for a project to relocate and redevelop one of our museums.  And what an interesting discussion it was!  As always, the most inspiring comments came from people who aren’t interpreters. The first thing that struck me was just how … Continue reading A Truly Democratic Model for Interpretation →

Involving stakeholders in interpretation, Or: policy aspiration and practice challenges

Next week sees the For Them and By Them: Involving Stakeholders and Communities in Interpretation conference take place, which I initiated.  I am no longer able to be at the conference myself, so I thought I’d share here what I was going to talk about there [1]. It is really quite astonishing to see just … Continue reading Involving stakeholders in interpretation, Or: policy aspiration and practice challenges →

A View from the Outside: The Arts Council’s Review of Museum Research

I have recently read the Arts Council England ‘Review of Research and Literature on Museums and Libraries’, compiled in September last year just before the Arts Council took over the responsibilities of the now-disbanded Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.  The review was part of an endeavour to ‘understand the needs and priorities of the sectors’ … Continue reading A View from the Outside: The Arts Council’s Review of Museum Research →