Our historic house museum is in the planning stages of a major project

which, among other things, calls for the development of new long-term

exhibits.  Integrating exhibits with our “traditional” guided tour has

always been a challenge.  That is, how to balance the needs of the visitor

(to wander about an exhibit at their own pace without feeling pressured by

a hovering docent) with the museum’s concerns (regarding safety and

efficient use of staff time).



One proposed solution suggests that we limit the guided portion of our tour

to the 1st floor of the house (that’s where the most significant/restored

rooms are anyway).  After being guided through the 1st floor spaces, our

'average' visitors would then be ushered to the 2nd floor, whereupon they

would be invited to explore the rest of the public spaces at their own

pace.  This idea, however, is complicated by the fact that one of our

exhibit spaces is on the 1st floor of the house.  So, part of the proposed

solution is to create an interpreter/docent-led exhibit on the 1st floor.



I’d be interested in hearing how docent-led exhibits have worked out in

other museums.  What works best?  What doesn’t work at all?  How did your

visitors respond?  In general, did they like the one-on-one attention &

opportunity to ask questions, or were they frustrated by being led through

an exhibit & not having “free rein” to explore it at their own pace?  How

long should a docent-led exhibit take to "complete"--in other words, at

what point do visitors tune out?  What should we be mindful of (in terms of

design, script, docent training, etc, etc) as the exhibit is developed?



Any thoughts/ideas will be much appreciated!



Lenora Henson

Curator, Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site