According to _The Museum Experience_ (1992: J. Falk and L. Dierking,
p.70+), there have been studies by Falk (1983: _Roundtable Reports_, 7(4),
p.10-13) and Borun (1980: "What's in a name?", Philadelphia: The Franklin
Institute Science Museum), among others, that touch upon the label reading
time.  The studies suggest that although the _average_ time is indeed 8 or
10 seconds,  label reading in fact falls into 2 patterns:  (1) glancing at
the label for only a second or two, and (2) reading seriously for a minute
or so.  These studies suggest that serious label readers are a small (10
percent or so) minority, but Paulette McManus in _What Research Says about
Learning in Science Museums_ argues that over 2/3 of visitors in a study at
the British Museum got significant information from labels.  She argues
that it is very hard to tell whether people are reading or not, and short,
casual glances at text can be surprizingly educational.

It would seem that average label-reading time is hard to measure, and it in
itself doesn't mean that much anyway.

-Jeff Kupperman

>I need a citation for my dissertation chapter on "We the People" (Chicago
>Historical Society, opened 1987).  I have already engaged in audience
>research and found that the exhibition takes about 2 hours to complete but
>most visitors spend, on average, 30 minutes.  I have a faint memory of
>reading an article a couple of years ago that discussed how long visitors
>spend reading labels, but I need a more substantial citation than that.
>
>Although I am fascinated by the discussion about what makes a good label that
>my request had generated, I really need a citation.  Please respond off-list.
> I will happily share my findings.  Thank you, Catherine Lewis
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Atelier Aza, Tokyo
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