Reading from left to right doesn't automatically put oldest on the left; 
my impulse always is to put the present on the left and go backward in 
time to the right. Others apparently want to go from oldest to more 
recent. This may well be why you're having the disagreements--you're 
likely to get some people thinking you're doing it oppositely no matter 
what you do. My suggestion would be to just be very sure that present 
and past is absolutely clear and not worry overly much about which you 
choose.

Cheers,

Art Harris

On 4/22/2010 11:27 AM, Patrick McQuillan wrote:

>
> Ann Craig wrote:
>> We are constructing an exhibit on the co-evolution of horses and
>> grasslands and are having some disagreement about which direction our
>> timelines and evolutionary "bushes" should move.
>>
>> Should a single panel or case have time move from the left to the
>> right - from millions of years ago to the present - regardless of the
>> direction which visitors approach the panel or case?
>>
>> OR
>>
>> If visitors approach the panel or case from the right, should time
>> start from the right and move to the left?
>>
>> I think visitors will always look at the case as a whole and then
>> start observing from the left to the right, just how they read.
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>>
>> Ann Craig
>>
>> Assistant Director, Education
>>
>> Museum of Natural and Cultural History
>>
>> University of Oregon
>>
>> Mailing:  1224 University of Oregon
>>
>> Street Address:  1680 East 15th Street
>>
>> Eugene, OR 97403
>>
>> (541) 346-3116
>>
>> http://natural-history.uoregon.edu
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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