Kris,

I have to agree with your evaluation method. Too often we try to turn
what we do in museums into a science. It is not. More than anything
perhaps we are trying to communicate with our visitors on some level and
that in my mind is an art.

Recently evaluation has become such a buzz word in our field. We have
tried to turn evaluation into some kind of branch of mathematics. We are
often so caught up in our goals that we forget to consider the goals of
our client, the visitor.

Are people engaged in the activity, are they involved, are they enjoying
themselves? Do they seem to stick around long enough to try various
options perhaps making some new discoveries. If an exhibit
developer (evaluator) can honestly say yes to these kinds of questions
then they should feel pretty satisfied that they are watching a
successful exhibit.

Joe Ruggiero
Flandrau Science Center
Tucson