On Sun, 15 Jan 1995, Susan Patterson wrote:
> We have recently formed a committee comprised of staff and
> volunteers charged with the mission to suggest ways to improve
> our visitors' experience. So far our discussions have delineated
> into two camps - those with concerns about communicating general
> information and those interested in conveying more art-specific
> information. One question has been raised which I would like to
> pose to the list: Has anyone addressed in a formal way the role
> guards can play as museum ambassadors? Obviously guards have a
> very specific duty but it is also true that they are many times
> the only contact visitors have with museum personnel. Has anyone
> tried assigning guards as "greeters"; how about modifying the
> uniform to a more "plain clothes" look? Other strategies?
> Thanks for any insights you might provide for our committee.
>
> Susan Patterson
> The Saint Louis Art Museum
> (314) 721-0072x278
> [log in to unmask]
As a professional museum visitor I am delighted that someone on the
inside of the business is taking a fresh look at the role of guards. Most
museums model their guard forces on police forces, which seems reasonable
until you think about it.
Security is in reality a rather minor function of museum guarding.
Aside from the occasional exuberant child, teenage vandal or nutso,
visitors present virtually no danger to themselves or the collections.
Thefts are nearly always inside jobs, Murph the Surf notwithstanding.
But museum guards are given police-type training, which is to say
paramility training, which is, sadly, to say paranoid training. They're
taught to be suspicious of visitors and defensive of "their" turf, or
beat. Combined with the excruciating boredom which typifies the work (you
try standing in virtually the same place hour after hour, with nothing to
do but watch people come and go and give directions to the Braques and
the bathrooms and see how quickly you turn into a surly dog).
Yet guards of a naturally pleasant and outgoing disposition are
ordered to minimize their interactions with visitors (to avoid
"distraction") and in fact--at least at the Smithsonian--may be punished
for being friendly. And museum officials wonder why good guards are hard
to find and harder to keep.
I think your group would do well to try thinking of guards as
docents in uniform. Include them in docent training, so that they'll be
knowledgeable about the exhibits they guard, and therefore more
forthcoming with visitors. Pin big ASK ME buttons beside their badges.
Ask their advice about exhibit layouts: They know traffic patterns better
than anybody.
Encourage guards to be friendly and forthcoming with visitors, and
vice versa. Along with the signs giving museum rules, put up posters
explaining the guards' role, and guard-of-the-month plaques and pictures.
Put real effort into involving your guards as participants and not just
observers; you'll discover that many of them are surprisingly
knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects and keenly observant of
museum operations. They know things you *need* to know, but nobody ever
asks them.
NOTICE them. I'll bet I know more Smithsonian guards by name than
any Smithsonian curator does.
Good luck and good hunting. You're on the right track. Guards will
always be a major expense, so it makes sense to try to develop them into
major assets.
+ + + + +
Hank Burchard * Weekend Section * The Washington Post
1150 15th Street NW * Washington DC USA 20071-0001
VoiceMail (202) 334-7243 * Email: [log in to unmask]
|
