I think your content directs the type of exhibit design.

I just finished developing 4 science exhibit halls for the a new
children's museum at Cincinnati Museum Center.  In the natural sciences
exhibit hall and the local natural history exhibit hall I used a
combination of collections and hands-on interactives.  But in the
physical sciences hall and water hall I just used hands-on interactives.
Collections and interactives can exist together and complement each other
well.  Also using the two together can make an exhibit accessible to a
wider variety of audiences (5 years olds, people with visual
disabilities, guests who don't speak English, etc.).

Natural sciences lend themselves to collections but how do you teach
physics or chemistry through collections?  (many museums without objects
are trying to teach these topics)  I've worked as a collections manager
and I recognize the historical, scientific, and educational value of
collections, but they aren't always the best or only choice for an
educational concept.  Many museums are putting the educational content of
exhibits first, which means one needs to choose the best technique for
that message.  Also hands-on isn't always high-tech.  I've seen some
ingeneous and highly educational low-tech interactives.

I personally love exhibits with lots of collections pieces, I also love
to read labels, and I know that I am not the average museum visitor.
Everyone learns in their own way.  Many guests love to see collections,
others are completely bored by them, and everything in between.  The same
can be said for high-tech exhibits.  I like to keep everyone in mind.

Laura A.B. Dell
WCET Educational Services (PBS)       (513) 381-4033, ext 338
1223 Central Parkway
Cincinnati, OH  45214
[log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]

On Tue, 1 Jun 1999 13:12:52 -0400 "Elizabeth A. Moore"
<[log in to unmask]> writes:
>I have to agree with Elizabeth Hanson; I think a move away from
>collections
>based museums is very unfortunate.  Do visitors really prefer the
>high-tech,
>hands-on stuff though?  Our exhibit department tells us so but I
>haven't
>seen any visitor survey results or published research that supports
>that
>statement.  If anybody knows of any pubs I would appreciate the
>reference -
>whichever way it supports (collections or non-collections).  In
>addition, I
>would think that the object intensive biodiversity exhibit at AMNH
>has
>proven so popular and successful that we could argue from that exhibit
>that
>people DO like to see objects, and lots of them.
>
>Dr. Elizabeth A. Moore, Curator
>Virginia Museum of Natural History
>1001 Douglas Avenue
>Martinsville, VA  24112
>[log in to unmask]
>


___________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://museums.state.nm.us/nmmnh/museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).