25 August 1997

We are currently planning a revamp of our social history programmes,
with the primary objective in many of these spaces is to move from
'passive' to 'active'. There are many internal and external factors which
are driving this change in philosophy. The primary one for our
institution is to provide exciting, engaging and family-friendly
exhibits within our social history exhibition.

I have been developing an 'interactivity', hands-on history area
within our main social history exhibition. However, this is all
new to me, and as such I am enjoying a steep learning curve!

What I am looking for out there are what are other museums doing in
this area? What type of new experiences and exhibits are being offered?
In these cases, has the philosophy of the 'science centre' experience
influenced the development of heritage interactives? Is there a useful
bibliography on the subject I can get my hands on? And has anyone
gone down the path of integrating heritage interactives within an
exhibition's wider themes and messages?

Any advice or information, or persoanl experiences, in these areas
would be gratefully received.

Roxanne Fea
Curator of Social History
The Science Centre & Manawatu Museum
Palmerston North, New Zealand