On Thu, 13 Jun 1996, JCA Boeyens wrote:

> I dn't know if this would help-its was a small project done for an Honours
> thesis 6 years ago-but I timed visitors viewing two displays on hominid
> evolution-one consisted of a couple of panels and would have taken
> approximately 6 minutes to read:
>
> 42.7% walked on by
> 31.1% glanced at the panels
> 19.4% spent less than two minutes looking at them
> 5.8% spent 2-4 minutes
> 1.0% spent 5-6 minutes
> Sample: 103
> A bigger display that would take approximately 20min to view got the
> following response
> 32.2% less than 2 min
> 35.5% 2-4min
> 19.4% 4-7min
> 8.6% 7-12 min
> 2.2% 12-15min
> 2.2% +15 min
> Sample 93
> Kathryn Mathers 1990 Evolution, Exhibits and Education. A survey of
> Museum Visitors. Unpublished Honours thesis Centre for African
> Studies, University of Cape Town
> Perhaps not as comprehensive as you need. I am chasing down
> someone I know who did a big evaluation for a museum in Canada,
> which apparently used sensitive pad under the carpets to time visitors in
> front of each display. Will post it as soon as I've got it.
>
> I would like to comment on the more general discussion as well.
> Especially about the point that visistors ignore the lables because they
> don't offer them what they want-entertainment. A lot of
> research-espeically Marilyn Hood's, shows that people do value
> education in museums and that is why they are ther-so perhaps it is not
> that our lables are not entertaining but that they are not offering the
> information that people want-as has been pointed out by others. In SA
> the perception is that museums are for educating children, but not adults
> so perhaps our lables should be giving parents something to use to
> intepret the displays for the kids and hopefully in the process raise their
> own interests.

     Hot dog! We're finally getting some meat on this thread. I'd like to
know, though, how the expected reading times were arrived at. Totally
unfamiliar material goes a lot slower than information being added to a
base of knowledge. Also, 20 minutes is a looong time to expect a visitor
to spend reading a couple of panels. It's more than twice as long, for
instance, as is necessary for a careful reading of every word of the
lengthy speech excerpts on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial at
Washington, even when one is being jostled by visitors and assaulted by
the ringing echoes of the voices of chattering children.

     Hank Burchard * <[log in to unmask]> * Washington DC | USA