Museum folks,
I have a request. The National Association for Interpretation
(NAI) holds an annual competition for the best interpretive
publication/presentation in a number of categories (posters, trail guides,
exhibits, etc.). This year, Web sites have been added as a category,
something I and others strongly urged as a recognition for the people who
are producing outstanding home pages and as encouragement for those who
aren't but want to.
When someone posts a new site on Museum-L, I usually visit it soon
and look it over. For the most part, sites listed here are
head-and-shoulders above the average, perhaps because museum folks already
know something about basic exhibit principles. So, you are a good audience
to ask for help and input.
1. Where do you turn for help and guidance on the
interpretive/educational value of your pages? There's lots of technical
manuals out there on wiring the Web, but the only publication I've found
that addresses interpretation (and I think it's great!) is the Style Manual
created and maintained by Patrick J. Lynch for Yale Medical School
<http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/StyleManual_Top.HTML)...VERY case-sensitive.
If you know of other, similar publications, would you please e-mail me the
citations/addresses?
2. What do YOU look for in a Web site? What do you like/dislike?
When you look at the clock and suddenly realize you've spent far longer
than you intended at a particular site...what was it that caught you and
pulled you in and wouldn't let you go?
3. Do you have some favorite sites that you think really WORK in
communicating concepts/
messages, etc.? One of mine is the second on-line exhibit of the Oneida
Nation cultural center in New York
<http://nysernet.org/oneida/shako/exhib2.html>. Would you share a few of
your "best of the best" with me, along with the reasons why they work for
you? You can send them private post <[log in to unmask]> or to the
list (recognition for good efforts never hurt anyone). If you have some
absolutely horrid examples you would like to draw my attention to for their
exemplary value, please do NOT post them to the list...send them privately.
(I will never, in any case, identify the terrible ones in any way.)
4. Any general comments or suggestions regarding
standards/guidelines for interpreting effectively on the Web will also be
appreciated. Personal post may be best; if others want to see them on the
list, it's fine by me.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts sent my way,
Tom Vaughan
Tom Vaughan \_ Cultural
The Waggin' Tongue \_ Resource
[log in to unmask] \_ Management,
11795 County Road 39.2 \_ Interpretation,
Mancos, CO 81328 USA \_ Planning, &
(970) 533-1215 \_ Training
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