>     You have been misinformed. If texts are written in straightforward,
>simple declarative sentences they will be adequate for any age. You might
>be surprised--alarmed, even--to know how many highly educated persons find
>this very hard to do.
>
>     Hank Burchard * <[log in to unmask]> * Washington DC

True, true. In addition to sentence length and simplicity is the issue of
vocabulary. We sometimes forget that terms familiar to us may perplex the
visitor. But this should be seen as a teaching opportunity. Simple
explanations of special terms allows the visitor to learn the appropriate
terminology for a special topic. For instance, in researching and preparing
an exhibit for 1997 called "Heavy Metal" (a history of iron and steel in
Cleveland, Ohio), we are collecting the terminology of the industry so that
we are both aware of it and able to assist exhibit visitors with learning
and using some of the more common terms.

I drive my wife nuts when we visit museums...she's looking at the exhibit
and I'm counting words in labels and peering around exhibit cases to see how
they're constructed, lighted, etc.

Exhibit labels continue to present problems for museum exhibits. The long,
narrative label continues to appear. White text on black backgrounds,
probably one of the hardest formats to read, keeps being selected by graphic
designers. Text silk-screened onto clear plexiglass/glass in front of
artifacts offers visitors the opportunity for much neck-craning and
eye-squinting. But these are my personal complaints. You all may have
different opinions on these.

Good labels often emulate good journalistic writing. Get to the important
points in the first paragraph. Tell your story in the first 100 hundred
words. Provide good, but not critical background information after
that...what percentage of our visitors read past the first 100, 200 words?

Edward Jay Pershey
Curator of Urban & Industrial History
Director of Education
Western Reserve Historical Society
10825 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106