As with any fairly broad question, the answer is "it depends." What do you
mean by exhibit surveys? There are lots of questions you could (and
should) be asking of your visitors in order to best meet their needs and
in order to create exhibitions that are meaningful and interesting to them
while also reflecting your institutional goals.

I find several basic books a good starting point in helping museum staff
to understand what to ask and why.

You might start with "Practical Evaluation Guide: Tools for Museums &
Other Informal Educational Settings" by Judy Diamond
AltaMira Press for the  American Association for State & Local History

Lynn D. Dierking & Wendy Pollack's "Questioning Assumptions: An
Introduction to Front-End Studies in Museums" published by the Association
of Science-Technology Centers, is another really good start.

These are available from their publishers or the AAM bookstore.

There are two professional associations you should know about: The Visitor
Studies Association <http://www.visitorstudies.org> and the Committee on
Audience Research and Evaluation (a standing professional committee of
AAM).

Don't overlook the Excellent Judges project, a project to develop a tool
to evaluate interpretive exhibitions from a visitor perspective. Find EJ
information at: <http://www.msu.edu/~dillenbu/EJ/home.html>

Best,
Diane Gutenkauf
Exhibit Works, Inc.
[log in to unmask]


On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 10:05:13 -0500, Marietta, Melissa
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Hello everyone:
>I am wondering if anyone has any insight or advice in regard to
>developing (in house) exhibit surveys? Are they worthwhile? Recommended
>reading on the subject, etc.?
>Thanks.
>Melissa
>
>
>Melissa Marietta
>Manager, Educational Leadership Programs
>National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum
>25 Main Street, Cooperstown, NY, 13326
>[log in to unmask]
>607.547.0313 (p)
>607.547.4094 (f)
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