"Fred R. Reenstjerna" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>In these log views, with lots of small specimens, labels on
>each one would obscure the view of the insects.  Are there any
>brilliant alternatives to a sketch-type illustration alongside
>the log with number codes showing which insects are where?  This
>would put the interpretive text in blocks, so visitors could
>look back & forth between the text & the log view.

Here at the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, our decomposer diorama
does not contain labels itself, as this would detract from the natural
beauty (we have more traditionally labelled specimens in other
exhibits).  The technique used is a series of backlit silhouettes, in
various colours (you can code according to level in the food chain,
Animal vs. plant paneles, phylum, class, etc).  The silhouettes of the
diorama indicate the various animals in the corresponding position.
More information can be found in associated panels.  While forcing the
visitor to view the exhibit and label back and forth, it does provide
the information sought by the viewer.  I would suggest that the
interpretive panel be place around the diorama opening (i.e. on the
same wall); our panels are on the adjacent, but perpendicular wall,
making in a bit harder to compare positions with objects in the
diorama.

>This raises a more general questions about labels in dioramas.
>Since every factor in the landscape - soil type, fungi, moss,
>invertebrates, and small vertebrates - is a significant component
>of the particular setting, what alternatives exist other than:
>a) labeling nothing - just having a general interpretive text
>b) labeling everything - so the diorama looks more like a
>        cemetery full of headstones than a living system;
>or the traditional
>c) labeling the "important" [i.e., biggest] items - so people
>        know that a Roosevelt elk lives among hemlocks, but they
>        don't know why all the ferns, voles, fungi, etc. are all
>        arond the big items.

>Any suggestions?

Another alternative, although quite a bit more complex (not to mention
costly), is the use of computer based graphics with descriptions.  The
Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa has done this quite successfully
with their Birds gallery.  They have used hypertext with sound and
video to make a very nice interpretive display associated with their
bird mounts/dioramas.

-Regards
George Wurtak
Director of Programs
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>Fred R. Reenstjerna
>Research Librarian
>Douglas County Museum of History and Natural History
>ROSEBURG, OR USA  97470
>[log in to unmask]

>--