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Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 6 Jul 1994 17:54:25 EST
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Robbin Murphy had asked about using^bulletin boards for visitors to post
things on.  The nearest to this I have worked with is visitor feedback
boards.  When I started out as a lowly audience research intern at the
National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution), my job was
to maintain the Exhibition Preview Area where we had displays previewing
future exhibits and asking for visitors' comments or suggestions (i.e., what
would you want to know about this topic?, etc).  We provided pencils and paper
(pre-printed "Your Views" notebooks held in plastic wall brackets).  During
busy weeks I had to go through once or twice a day to replace pencils (DO NOT
PUT OUT NICE NEW #2 PENCILS) and pick up trash out of the plastic holders.
Most museums do not get the traffic that NMAH does, but letting visitors have
run of a space WITHOUT staff maintenance can leave a room looking very forlorn.
 
We got a lot of helpful information from visitors (directly or indirectly) but
also learned that giving kids of a certain age paper and pencil and anonymity
leads to less than helpful feedback involving four-letter words and anatomical
drawings, and someone on staff has to keep the boards in order everyday.cg
 
This may not exactly answer the question about using bulletin boards, but I
hope this reply is of some use.
 
Carolyn Brady
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MA program in Public History
Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis

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