I am currently coordinating the development of a mobile exhibit
program, which travels to elementary schools and community centers.
The exhibit program transforms the multi-purpose room of the host
site into a virtual hands-on museum for an entire evening or
afternoon.

In addition to content goals for program participants, we would also
like the program to "serve as a model for other small museums* to
demonstrate how they can implement similar programs." Our center
currently reaches over half of its audience through these sorts
outreach programs, and we would like to be able to share our
successes with others. To this end, we plan to pilot the new mobile
program in at least one small museum by the end of 2004.

I would love to hear your feedback and suggestions about what needs
small museums have in regards to outreach programs and how a pilot
program might most benefit them. The following are a few questions to
ponder:

What resources do small museums need to enhance their outreach programs?

Are small museums interested in learning how to implement outreach programs?

Are small museums interested in renting or purchasing exhibits that
they could use in an existing outreach program?

Do small museums need access to exhibits that they can easily set up
on-site for temporary programs?

What would a small museum hope to gain through piloting an outreach program?

(* As a reference, our small museum serves roughly 45,000 people
annually, our budget is approximately $500,000, and we have about 12
FTE staff members.)





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Mackenzie Tysell
Health in Your World Project Coordinator

Explorit Science Center
PO Box 1288 / 3141 5th Street
Davis, CA 95617-1288
530.756.0191
fax 530.756.1227
http://www.explorit.org

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