I agree with Greg, "do not touch" signs, like locked doors, only work  
on basically honest people. Since your site is docent led, there is no  
substitute for the personal reminder and a vigilant eye. I would argue  
that most of what your museum can do to mitigate against destructive  
visitor behavior is based on sound exhibition and tour/program design  
and vigilant and creative educators. But this thread is about signage  
and others have made personnel related suggestions.

I think any preventive steps you take should be based upon two  
questions. What LIKELY behavior do you want to prevent and what types  
of bad behavior are you willing to put up with. Of course we don't  
want visitors to poke at an antique chair to see what it's filled with  
or trace their fingers across a credenza to check for dust, but lets  
face it, if that's the worst that happens to your artifacts during  
their exhibition your museum is leading a charmed life. Artifact  
rotation and regular conservation measures can mitigate most of this  
minor touching. If you wanted to prevent ALL of this kind of poking,  
you would put everything behind ropes or under vitrines. Otherwise  
people WILL touch. They will. Get used to it or put things out of  
poking distance.

You want to prevent the truly destructive forces let loose in your  
museum. I think these can boil down to two types. Rambunctious groups  
(mostly, but not just kids usually in packs) and people who use the  
furniture for its original purpose, not realizing they are parking  
their butt on a 200 year old divan. The former can only be prevented  
by diligent staff, parents, and chaperones and creative educators and  
exhibition designers. Signs will not work, and indeed may exacerbate,  
people who do not exhibit some base level of decorum and proper museum  
behavior. How to deal with this type of behavior is for another thread.

For the people that sit on artifact chairs and set things down on  
antique furniture absent mindedly, gentle signs and reminders will  
help. For chairs I have often seen museums simply tie a ribbon or rope  
across the seat. It can go left-to-right between arm rests or top to  
bottom from chair back to seat. The important point is that is should  
prevent a casual sitter from sitting without hurting the sitter or the  
chair. Putting replica food, silver, pewter ware or some other period  
appropriate props provides a gentle, visual cue that this piece of  
furniture is part of the display not a useable counter top.

There are some things you can do to help prevent this kind of absent  
minded destruction. The two I see transgressed the most would be 1)  
the lack of appropriate furniture.  If the only seating you provide on  
a 30 minute or longer tour are chairs that are artifacts, people WILL  
try to sit in them. Provide some sort of seating at mid points in your  
tour, especially if your visitor-ship skews older. People need to sit.

2) The other mistake I see a lot of museums, especially house museums,  
make is that they don't maintain a separation  between the  functional  
areas and exhibition areas of their site.  Visitors should know,  
without asking or being told, when they are in an exhibition area and  
when they are in a functional area like an ante-room, museum store, or  
class room. If you use antique furniture or reproductions to put your  
cash register and brochure rack on, don't be surprised if people set  
their stuff down on an artifact that looks just like it in an  
exhibition area.  And don't put out chairs that mimic the period and  
style of your artifacts and do put them in neutral, not exhibition  
areas. Make it as easy as possible for the visitor to distinguish  
artifact from furniture without signage.

If you have a hands-on room, interactives, or demonstrations, make  
sure it is clear when the visitor can touch and when they can't. In  
this instance signs are a must. Don't let the visitor try to figure  
out on his or her own what they can touch and what they can't.

If you choose some sort of immersive, experiential experience at your  
museum that erodes this distinction between function and exhibition,  
that is fine. But be prepared for an exponential increase in  
destructive visitor behavior and plan for it in advance.

Can you tell I am off work today? I seemed to have rambled on....

Matt White

On Jun 18, 2008, at 10:43 AM, Jackson, Gregory wrote:

> I have found that, at best, “do not touch” signs are only a gentle  
> reminder.  Some people will touch regardless – they can’t help  
> themselves.  The same people, I’m sure, that touch the paint to see  
> if the “Wet Paint” sign is really telling the truth.  If velvet  
> ropes aren’t an option for you (or something similar), a  
> psychological boundary may help.  Just position the objects so it is  
> a little awkward for a guest to reach them.  Many people will avoid  
> touching if it is very obvious that they are doing so.
>
> Greg
>
> Pottsgrove Manor Historic Site
>
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]  
> On Behalf Of Heidi Campbell-Shoaf
> Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 10:17 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] "do not touch" labels
>
> I just opened a new exhibit in which there are several pieces of  
> furniture on display as well as glass, ceramics, artwork, etc. All  
> of the small, fragile items are under vitrines but the furniture  
> pieces are simply on risers. When reviewing the exhibit with our  
> docents, they expressed concern that I did not have “do not touch”  
> signs on the furniture.  I’ve used these signs in the past but I am  
> wondering about their effectiveness. I’ve observed both at my museum  
> and at others, that some people will touch regardless of signage.   
> I’ve also noticed that most larger museums I’ve visited do not have  
> these signs at all.  Our museum experience is guided tour only and  
> the docents are trained to remind visitors not to touch items on  
> exhibit. The new exhibition can be self-guided but the vast majority  
> of the time there will be a docent in the room with the visitor.
>
> I’d like to hear about other’s experience with “do not touch” signs  
> and whether they work or just clutter up an exhibit and have little  
> effectiveness.
>
> Heidi Campbell-Shoaf, Curator
> Museum of Frederick County History
> Historical Society of Frederick County
> 24 East Church Street
> Frederick, Md. 21701
> www.hsfcinfo.org
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