Programs, tours and exhibits are the meat-and-potatoes of what most museums do to meet their missions to educate the public. Interpretation helps make small museums compelling so that the public understands that they are more than a repository of dusty objects. This book considers researching and designing exhibits and best practices for sharing the stories with your audiences. It explores how to orient your organization to be effective interpreters of what you collect, including how to tell engaging stories and how to address difficult issues you may have ignored in the past, like slavery, prejudice and privilege. For the non-historian, it also offers a step-by-step primer on good historical research.

As the American Alliance of Museums’ (AAM) Standing Professional Committees Council tells us “exhibitions are the public face of museums. The effective presentation of collections and information in exhibitions is an activity unique to museums, and it is through their exhibitions that the vast majority of people know museums.” Effective Exhibit Interpretation and Design examines the impact of an integrated approach to exhibit design and development on the effective creation and support of live interpretation of exhibit messages and institutional mission. Bridal argues that the interpreters who bring these exhibitions, an institution’s mission, collections, and stories to life and the forefront of a visitor’s attention are just as vital a part of an institution’s public face, and that neglecting to give live interpretation an equal seat at the table impoverishes the ultimate visitor experience. Eight institutions collaborated with the author in examining the outcomes of approaching exhibit and live interpretation design and development collaboratively, the challenges of adding interpretation to spaces and exhibits not designed for it, and the guiding practices they have put into place. These institutions were: Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta, Minnesota History Center, The Missouri History Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, National Children’s Museum, The National Museum of American History, The Science Museum of Minnesota and The Science Museum of Virginia. Information was also shared by the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

.Cs7CED571B{text-align:left;text-indent:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt}.cs5EFED22F{color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-family:Times New Roman; font-size:12pt; font-weight:normal; font-style:normal; }Interpretation helps the public understand our purpose and mission. In this book, we tackle how to orient your organization to be effective interpreters of what you collect; how to tell engaging stories; and how to address difficult issues you may have avoided. We provide a primer in historical research for the non-historian and the do-it-yourself basics for creating.

All museum activities converge in the very public forum of the exhibition. Whether large or small, exhibitions are responsible for driving museum attendance and revenue as well as showcasing new research and engaging audiences in new ideas. As museums move from a transmission to a visitor-centered model, exhibitions are more experience driven, participatory, and interactive, built around multiple perspectives and powerful storytelling. The exhibition development process is more complex than ever as audiences demand more dynamic, diverse and inclusive experiences. Museum leaders, interpretive planners, designers, and curators are rising to the challenges in innovative ways. This manual details the exhibition process in a straightforward way that can be easily adapted by institutions of any size. It explores the exhibition planning and development process in a wealth of detail, providing the technical and practical methodologies museum professionals need today. This 3rd edition includes many new features and expanded chapters on evaluation, virtual exhibitions multimedia, travelling exhibition, curiosity and motivation, DEAI (diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion), while retaining the essential content related to interpretive planning, roles and responsibility, and content development. New and exciting case studies, exhibition examples, and more than 200 color photos and figures illustrate every step of the process. No museum or museum professional can be without this critical guide to an essential function.

Building informative and interesting exhibits is challenging for small museums. Even museums with minimal budgets can produce quality exhibits with guidance from Great Exhibits! An Exhibit Planning and Construction Handbook for Small Museums. Using research from top exhibit professionals and do-it-yourself installation instructions, small museum staff and volunteers will be able to build professional exhibits. Museum professionals have dedicated years of study to the experiences of museum visitors. Great Exhibits! combines the best academic research that will help small museums understand what needs to go into planning an exhibit with step-by-step instructions that outline the process for planning successful exhibits. Digital interactive technology and simple hands-on experiences are included. To keep up with changing technology, the companion website https://bethsagehansen.wordpress.com/ will be updated regularly to provide resources and current digital technology. The best thing about Great Exhibits! is that features more than 100 FULL-COLOR photographs and illustrations to show you how to create exhibit cases, object mounts, and temporary walls. This practical guide is invaluable for any museum without professional fabricators. Based on practical experiences at small museums across the country and featuring more than 100 full-color photographs and illustrations, Great Exhibits! is an invaluable resource for theoretical guidance and practical assistance to anyone who works or volunteers in a small museum as well as a textbook for museum studies programs. To keep up with changing technology, the companion website https://bethsagehansen.wordpress.com/ will be updated regularly to provide resources and current digital technology.

All museum activities converge in the public forum of the exhibition – regardless of whether the exhibit is held in the physical museum or is on the Web. Since the first edition of this book in 2002, there has been a world-wide explosion of new galleries and exhibition halls, and new ideas about how exhibitions should look and communicate. The definition of what an exhibition is has changed as exhibitions can now be virtual; non-traditional migratory and pop-up spaces play host to temporary displays; social media has created amazing opportunities for participatory engagement and shifted authority away from experts to the public; and as time-constrained audiences demand more dynamic, interactive, and mobile applications, museum leadership, managers, staff, and designers are rising to these challenges in innovative ways. Drawing on years of experience and top-flight expertise, Barry Lord and Maria Piacente detail the exhibition process in a straightforward way that can be easily adapted by institutions of any size. They explore the exhibition development process in greater detail, providing the technical and practical methodologies museum professionals need today. They’ve added new features and expanded chapters on project management, financial planning and interactive multimedia while retaining the essential content related to interpretive planning, curatorship, and roles and responsibilities. This second edition of the standby Manual of Museum Exhibitions is arranged in four parts: Why – Covering the purpose of exhibits, where exhibit ideas come from, and how to measure success Where – Covering facilities and spaces, going into details including security, and interactive spaces What – A look at both permanent collection displays, and non-collection displays, as well as virtual, participatory, temporary, travelling displays, and retail sales How – Who is involved, planning, curatorship, and content development, design, multimedia, fabrication and installation, financial planning, and project management Over 130 figures and photographs illustrate every step of the exhibit process. No museum can be without this critical, detailed guide to an essential function.

While new directors learn how to manage and lead museums as part of their professional training and career development, the skills and knowledge required to work with boards—which are instrumental to a museum director’s work—must somehow be acquired on the job as one’s career progresses. What Every Museum Director Should Know about Working with Boards is designed to empower new and aspiring museum directors by equipping them with the skills and knowledge to work with boards. What Every Museum Director Should Know about Working with Boards uses museum-based vignettes of all-too-true situations encountered by new museum directors to illustrate what museum directors need to understand about their work with museum boards, so that they have the skills and knowledge to identify, assess, and successfully navigate the common issues they will inevitably encounter as a director. Following the vignette, analysis of the situation and strategic guidance are offered. A new director’s understanding of how boards are structured and operate, how they will interact with the board, and what areas they will work on with the board are all critical to a new museum leader’s success. However, busy new directors often do not have time to access the many widely dispersed resources about working with boards or to ascertain what parts of board operations will most affect their daily work. Consequently, What Every Museum Director Should Know about Working with Boards outlines how boards are organized, discusses the common points of contact between the director and the museum’s board, and examines the kinds of challenges museum directors will likely encounter in working with their boards. Given the importance of museum boards to the success of museums and a director’s understanding of boards to their own career development, What Every Museum Director Should Know about Working with Boards is an essential resource for new and aspiring museum directors.