Objects don’t equal objectivity, or: The pitfalls of object-driven interpretation

Last week I was back in Germany finishing up the visitor interviews at Museum und Park Kalkriese for my doctorate research. One interview in particular struck a note with me. A visitor was very upset about what they felt was a major lack of balanced representation. They felt that there was little to nothing about … Continue reading Objects don’t equal objectivity, or: The pitfalls of object-driven interpretation →

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 →

The challenge of objects

I don’t know about you, but I usually prefer heritage sites to museums for a visit. Partially this may be a result of poor interpretation encountered once too often at museums. Labels listing cataloguing information do very little for me and, I expect, many other visitors. Such ‘interpretation’ fails to make that elusive connection, and … Continue reading The challenge of objects →