I second this request -- please reply to the list.
Thanks.
Elizabeth Simon
House Manager
Oatlands Historic House and Gardens
Leesburg, VA
At 01:49 PM 8/2/2006 -0400, you wrote:
>"Some docents and shadows have also come up
>with gentle, humorous, and gracious phrases to correct the inevitable
>occasional offenders,"
>
>Could you give some examples?
>
>Heidi Campbell-Shoaf, Curator
>Historical Society of Frederick County
>24 East Church Street
>Frederick, Md. 21701
>www.hsfcinfo.org
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
>Of Cait Dallas
>Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 11:06 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Roping Off Chairs/Furniture
>
>We tour guests through 3 historic buildings filled with original
>furnishings - and largely without barriers. We do have 3 rooms with
>original carpeting that we need to preserve and have inset a small area
>of alternate flooring to which guests are restricted. But, for the most
>part, we've approached the issues of preservation, security, and crowd
>control without using ropes, signs, or plexi-glassed doorways. Instead,
>we limit our tours to groups of 10 guests (with the possibility of tours
>embarking every 15 minutes through the day). Each group is led by a
>docent and followed by a shadow. Guests are asked not to sit, lean, or
>touch during their orientation. During the tour, it is the shadow's role
>to monitor guest behavior and discourage sitting, etc. We do have many
>elderly folks as guests and have folding chairs stashed in closets
>throughout the buildings for the shadow to pull out as needed. Docents
>and shadows have found that by positioning themselves strategically in
>each room, they can discourage guests from attempting to sit in the most
>likely areas. They've become quite adept at spotting likely sitters and
>leaners and acting preemptively to discourage those behaviors, by
>offering a folding chair. Some docents and shadows have also come up
>with gentle, humorous, and gracious phrases to correct the inevitable
>occasional offenders, so we've shared those with the volunteer
>docent/shadow pool in training and refresher sessions. The docent/shadow
>system has worked extremely well from a preservation perspective. It
>has the added bonus of doubling as a great open hours security system,
>and in enabling us to respond quickly and effectively to tour guest
>medical emergencies.
>- Cait
>
>Cait Dallas, Curator of Collections
>Ten Chimneys Foundation
>P.O. Box 225
>Genesee Depot, WI 53127
>Phone: (262) 968-4161 ext 202
>Email: [log in to unmask]
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>Behalf Of Melissa de Bie
>Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 9:44 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Roping Off Chairs/Furniture
>
>We have a 150 year old house furnished with contents from the original
>family. I put up little "Please Do Not Sit" cards on all the seating
>and
>beds. Our docents wear gloves and only handle a few educational pieces
>and
>they use the "This is a museum..." as part of their tours so people
>understand the techniques we use and can be a part of it. Occasionally
>we
>get problems, so we put a folding chair behind all of the doors in case
>someone has to sit down. The docents don't use the chairs that much,
>but
>they're there just in case.
>
>
>Melissa de Bie
>Collections Manager
>Rock County Historical Society
>P.O. Box 8096
>Janesville, WI 53547
>www.rchs.us
>608-756-4509
>
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