Dale:  Honestly, I think that when people talk about personal "connection"
with a museum, it has more to do with emotion than with intellectual
knowledge or literal recognition of themselves, friends, or relatives.

I have a donor for whom our museum (a museum of Boy Scouting and Girl
Scouting) represents a very personal experience.  We have just one group of
objects that come from him and his family, but he felt this way about us
before we had his stuff.  Boy Scouting has been an enormous part of his
entire life, and therefore, our stuff, no matter who it came from, is
personal to him, at a visceral level.

I think the most successful visitor experiences are ones that make them
FEEL.  It is not just Jewish people who are moved and engaged at the
Holocaust Museum.

Please post your definition when you formulate it!

Claudia

-- 
Claudia J. Nicholson
Executive Director
North Star Museum of Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting
2640 E. Seventh Avenue
North St. Paul, MN  55109
651-748-2880
FAX:  651-748-0660
[log in to unmask]

Join us today!  Visit www.NorthStarMuseum.org



On 8/8/07 1:50 PM, "Dale Jones" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Claudia -- thanks for your thoughts. I have a copy of "Presence of the Past"
> -- but unfortunately, they don't define the term (unless I have just missed
> it, in which case I would appreciate a citation).  They do use the term
> often, asking folks how "connected" they feel when they engage in a variety
> of activities.  
> 
> But my question remains -- what do people mean when they talk about
> "connections?"   I have my own opinions, but I am looking for a useful
> definition that emerges from either visitor research or the opinion of
> thoughtful folks in the field.  It appears that it is a term that both
> people in and out of the field (history) just assume is understood, but I
> would like to "upack" its meaning.
> 
> Once again, if anyone knows of a citation or source that directly addresses
> the meaning of "connection" I would appreciate it.  Otherwise I'll craft my
> own definition and see how it goes.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Dale Jones
> Institute for Learning Innovation
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, 7 Aug 2007 14:25:37 -0500, Claudia J. Nicholson
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> Go back and look at "Presence of the Past" by Rosensweig and Thelen--it is
>> probably the clearest thing that came out of their research.
>> 
>> Claudia
>> 
>> 
>> On 8/6/07 2:20 PM, "Dale Jones" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi -
>>> 
>>> I am preparing a session at AASLH on personal connections to history in
>>> museums and am looking for some working definitions, or better yet, a
>>> definition that comes out of relevant scholarship.   Many history museums
>>> and sites now use some variant of "personal connections" or "connecting to
>>> the past" in their mission statements, but I have found none that define
>>> what they mean.
>>> 
>>> Any thoughts?
>>> 
>>> Thanks
>>> 
>>> Dale Jones
>>> Institute for Learning Innovation
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>> 
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