Hi Michael:

Having once been Director of an institution similarly saddled with the 
X. X. Xxxxxxx Library and Research Center, I can feel your pain.

I think that what it comes down to is what do you hope your guests _do_ 
within the incredible resource that you have. For me it is about 
defining and then identifying a place where your guests can undertake an 
exciting journey of investigation, discovery, and understanding that can 
have deep personal meaning and potentially change their lives. On the 
occasions when I have visited the Milwaukee County Historical Society 
(yep I lived in the great state of Wisconsin), I found, like with many 
other institutions, that the Library and Archives are clearly _not_ part 
of the guest experience. Of course my own institution at the time 
suffered terribly from this with guests having to actually drive to a 
separate facility to access our Research Center.

Perhaps a way to look at this challenge is to develop a portion of your 
guest experience that introduces and explains the role of the Research 
Library and the wondrous discoveries that await a guest who wishes to 
explore it. I am currently working with an institution that is quite 
similar to yours and, among other things, helping to develop their newly 
redefined research center (yet to be named). In our planning we have 
created an opportunity for the archives and library to become part of 
the guest experience, first as an exhibition element and then as a 
research center.

I would suggest that you make the Library a "weenie" - a visual magnet 
that rewards guests for making the journey to see it. Don't just 
consider changing the name or slapping up a label, but instead 
communicate with visual literacy - make good use of all of the 
non-verbal means of communication to identify this place and what 
happens here. Consider color, shape, form, sound, and texture as you 
_invite_ your guests in.

Avoid Overload - Resist the temptation to tell them all there is to know 
about the Research Center. Try not to force the guest to swallow more 
than they can digest, try to stimulate and provide guidance to those who 
want more.

Most of all, Know Your Audience - Don't assume they know what you know. 
Provide the story and the tools so that they can discover something they 
didn't know about themselves or their past. It is important for the 
guest to be successful, if only in a small way. Once they have achieved 
and celebrated that success you will have them knocking at your door to 
return.

Good luck and I can't wait to hear how your adventure works out!

Larry Fisher
Planning and Design for Museums and Cultural Institutions
Bristol, RI
(401)253-5335
[log in to unmask]

On 2/2/2012 3:29 PM, Michael Reuter wrote:
>
> Greetings all,
>
> Our institution is brainstorming about how to transform our 
> archives/research library area to make it more inviting and attractive 
> to visitors other than the traditional researchers and students. Other 
> than new programming, we are investigating name changes to this area 
> of operations of the Historical Society. Currently the name stands as 
> the Harry H. Anderson Research Library.
>
> Is there anyone out there that has experienced a transition with an 
> archive like this and how did it occur, or do you know of similar 
> research facilities that transformed their experiences and offerings 
> through creative re-naming processes?
>
> Thanks for any feedback!
>
> Mike
>
> Michael Reuter
>
> Curator of Objects/Registrar
>
> Milwaukee County Historical Society
>
> 910 N. Old World 3rd St.
>
> Milwaukee, WI 53203
>
> 414-273-8288
>
> Find us at www.milwaukeehistory.net 
> <http://www.milwaukeehistory.net/>, facebook,
>
> And twitter @mkectyhistsoc
>
>
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