Thanks so much. This is of great help!
Jeffrey Allison


        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Carey Tisdal [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:   Tuesday, November 24, 1998 4:56 PM
        To:     [log in to unmask]
        Subject:        Re: Visitor Behavior in the Museum Setting

             Jeffrey:
             
             There is a large body of research and literature on visitor
learning 
             and behavior in museums.  It dates back to the 1930's, but
is growing 
             daily.  There is a wonderful annotated bibliography being
produced by 
             the Museum Learning Collaborative.  Say a big thanks to
IMLS, NSF, and 
             NEH for the joint funding that produced this wonderful
resource for 
             all of us and made it assesible via the WWW.  Here is the
address:
             
             http://mlc.lrdc.pitt.edu/mlc/Annotatedlit.html
             
             The annotations are divided into three themes.  

                I. Learning and learning environments 
                II. Interpretation, meaning, and explanation 
                III. Identity, motivation, and interest 
             
        To me the best overall introduction to how people learn and
behave in museums is
        Falk and Dierking's 1992 book.  It is readable, has a coherent
point of view, 
        and is based on research.  Below is the full bib and annotation
from the MIC www
        site:  

        Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (1992). The Museum Experience.
Washington, DC: 
        Whalesback Books.


        Museum researchers Falk and Dierking propose in this book a
comprehensive 
        framework for understanding people's museum experiences. This
framework, the 
        Interactive Experience Model, represents a dynamic process that
occurs at the 
        intersection of three overlapping contexts--personal, social,
and physical--each
        of which influences a visitor's museum learning experience. By
personal context 
        the authors mean the expectations and anticipated outcomes each
person has for 
        his or her museum visit; by social context they mean the people
visitors come 
        into contact with while at the museum, such as companions,
museum staff, and 
        other visitors; and by physical context they mean the museum
environment--for 
        example, the building structure and the type of exhibits. In
discussing the 
        personal context, the authors describe the agendas that visitors
bring to 
        museums, including social-recreational, educationåal, and
reverential reasons 
        for coming. They argue that since learning in museums is largely
a social 
        activity, much more research on the social context is needed.
They point out 
        that the limited research in this area, specifically that on
families visiting 
        museums, has already produced significant findings, such as the
gender 
        differences between how mothers and fathers interact with their
children. For 
        the physical context, the authors discuss how various aspects of
the size and 
        structure of the museum and of individual exhibits influence the
overall 
        learning experience--for example, the routes people tend to
take, the time they 
        spend, and the onset of "museum fatigue." Falk and Dierking
devote a section of 
        their book to learning theory and its application to learning in
museums. Taking
        memory and recall as critical indicators of learning, the
authors emphasize 
        "recollection" research, noting that when people are asked to
remember 
        everything they can from a museum visit, recall focuses on the
personal, social,
        and physical contexts of the museum. These findings provide the
authors with 
        support for their Interactive Experience Model as well as for
the amount and 
        durability of learning that occurs in museums. Finally, the
authors offer 
        suggestions to museum professionals for creating and evaluating
exhibits in a 
        way that takes into account what is known about visitors' needs
and levels of 
        knowledge so that museums can have the greatest impact and
visitors feel 
        satisfied with their experience. Based on years of research on
museum learning, 
        Falk and Dierking provide an excellent framework for
understanding the museum 
        experience as a whole, and offer many helpful suggestions for
future research in
        this area, as well as concrete recommendations for museum
professionals. This 
        book is consistent with the Museum Learning Collaborative's
mission to 
        investigate exactly how the personal, social, and physical
contexts interact to 
        facilitate or inhibit learning in museums. (KCA)

        If you are looking for specific titles check the AAA and ASTC
bookstores at the 
        www sites of those organizations.

        Good luck on you quest!

        Carey Tisdal
        Research and Evaluation, Director
        St. Louis Science Center



        ______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
        Subject: Visitor Behavior in the Museum Setting
        Author:  Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
at INTERNET
        Date:    11/24/98 1:06 PM


        I'm looking for sources for information on visitor behavior in
the Museum 
        Setting.  Signage, exhibition design, etc.  Any sources that are
more 
        current than things published in the 1980's would be greatly
appreciated.
             
        Thanks
        Jeffrey Allison
        Coordinator, Statewide Programs
        Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
        [log in to unmask]