"Robert O. Dahl" <[log in to unmask]> writes:
 
>I'm posting this to the group to try and encourage more input. I
>agree with you that technical wizardry can and often does overshadow the
>message of the exhibit. There's a fine line here. I think particularly from
>the point of view of an exhibit appealing to children. I don't know how
>often I've seen kids run up to a technical exhibit (read using fancy
>technology) and just start pushing away on the buttons to see what happens.
>The medium needs to be kept in the background.
 
>How do I keep the technology in the background ? I
>also want to encourage the visitor to do it the old-fashioned way and learn
>to use a field guide and I would prefer these technologies complement
>rather than compete with each other.
 
I think the problem lies not with technology per se, but the ways in which
people try to apply it to museum exhibits.
 
Micro-computers are relatively inexpensive and fairly powerful devices, while
many of the programs that get developed for display purposes are fairly
routine and mimic less complex forms of presentation: label cards, still or
moving images, etc.
 
The lure of doing something with a high-tech veneer (in some exhibits) seems
to have overwhelmed a reasoned approach to education. Rather than finding the
most suitable vehicle for the information, it often happens that a computer
is inserted where several other methods might have worked just as well, or,
that a computer is used essentially as digital label block or video
controller.
 
And of course, sometimes the people bleating loudest about "cutting edge"
have the least clue as to what, where, why, or how...
 
It is a reflection of the society that younger visitors are more quickly
drawn to computer exhibits, based on familiarity with recreational
electronics perhaps, while older visitors are less inclined to experiment
with a computer interface and are possibly intimidated by it. However, we
don't view any visitor response as a bad thing, only another set of
conditions (but we have about 1.5 million school-aged visitors each year),
 
One thing is certain, mini-computers offer opportunities for presenting,
processing, and storing large amounts of information that simply do not exist
in analog forms.
 
Many younger visitors have seen the effect of this processing power and
expect to see simulations and imaging that rival familiar commercial
displays.
 
It is also true that any "hands-on" exhibit that involves a simple causal
interface (i.e. push a button, pull a lever, turn a wheel...) and no clarity
of interpretation will engender the effect of visitors "just start pushing
away on the buttons to see what happens". There isn't much else to that type
of display, is there?
 
regards,
Kevin Coffee
American Museum of Natural History