Hello Susan et al.,
While you are right that most museum visitors can stay longer than 45
minutes, most complaints of fatigue (that I've heard) begin at the 45 minute
mark. Most visitors are quiet capable of lasting longer . . . but beyond
that point, one must evaluate quality versus quantity. Staying longer is
not necessarily a better experience.
(I had plenty of opportunity to witness the pain and aggravation of "museum
fatigue" during our 16 week exhibition -- from Feb 12 to June 4 -- of glass
by Dale Chihuly with over 160,000 visitors . . . with installations
scattered all over the museum, and a hot shop in the parking lot. And we
didn't even have an audio guide slowing things down!)
Take, for example, the earlier message about 860 washing machines in a
12,000 square foot display space. Some visitors may be pleased seeing
(read: learning about) 10 of them . . . another might enjoy 100 . . . and
some will love all 860!
I am not putting down museums or visitors. I am being realistic. Realism
is that people's backs, legs, necks, eyes, etc. get tired. We are only
human. While we may not be able to visit the washing machine museum every
day, isn't it better that we learn about 10 of them, rather than try to cram
information about 860 and get confused once the visit is over?
Jay Heuman
Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator
Joslyn Art Museum http://www.joslyn.org
2200 Dodge Street
Omaha, NE 68102
Phone: 402-342-3300, ext. 298
Fax: 402-342-2376
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Susan Wageman
> Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2000 11:18 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: audio-guides
>
>
> Jay Heuman wrote:
> >I would say 30-45 minutes is fine . . . more than 45 minutes is pushing
the limits of
> >that average visitor if you consider "museum fatigue."
>
> Given today's audio-guide technologies, I would not say that this is
> true any more. It used to be that you were limited to following a set
> path, starting and stopping a tape player. This format I
> would say that Jay's advice is sound if you are using this format.
>
> Today there are a variety of random access systems available. Using
> these tools, you can provide content appealing to broader audiences.
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