This is a brief summary of the historical periods described in Jon Coe's 1986 article entitled "Towards a Coevolution of Zoos, Aquariums, and Natural History Museums." Coe traces the history of exhibit design in these three types of informal settings.
This article describes findings from a study of over 250 professionals who deal with visitors in exhibition-type facilities. Researchers studied attitudes about exhibit evaluation, specifically about the value and funding of this research.
In this article, researchers at Jacksonville State University share methods and findings from a study that compared the effectiveness of three types of "Do-Not-Feed" signs at the monkey island in the Birmingham Zoo. This is a summary of a paper to be presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association Annual Meeting in New Orleans in March, 1988.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Stephen BitgoodJerry CarnesAngela NaborsDon Patterson
In this article, Valerie D. Thompson of the San Diego Zoological Gardens discusses findings from a 10-week observational study during the summer months of 1977 to investigate the nature of noncompliant behavior of zoo visitors. Noncompliant behaviors included distracting, teasing, feeding, or attempting to injure the animals. Thompson addresses how these findings have helped alleviate problematic behavior at the zoo.
In this bibliography, Jacksonville State University researcher Stephen Bitgood presents a list of research reports on the topic of school field trips to museums and zoos.
This is a brief summary of Barbara Birney's 1988 article featured in "Environment and Behavior," which discussed key findings from the formative evaluation of Brookfield Zoo's "Flying Walk" exhibit. The exhibit was designed to teach visitors the proper wing movement of birds.
This is a brief abstract of Donald Thompson's Master's Thesis at Jacksonville State University. Thompson studied over 5600 visitor groups at the Birmingham Zoo as they passed throu the entrance of the Predator House and studied visitor responses to interpretive signs of varied lengths, type sizes and proximities.
This is a brief abstract of Suzanne Hodges's Master's Thesis at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Hodges researched the influence of enlarged signs and less label copy on visitors' behavior at a small children's zoo in Virginia.
This is a brief abstract of Steve R. Hage's Master's Thesis at the University of Minnesota. Hage conducted an ethnographic study of family groups at the Japanese Snow Monkey exhibit in the Minnesota Zoo. Hage confirmed prior research that concluded visitors appear to be more interested in viewing active, attractive animals than learning about the natural history of animals.
This is a brief abstract of Ted W. Finlay's Master's Thesis at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Finlay's research evaluated the effects of background settings on the perceptions of animals.
In this article, Albert Ndayitwayeko, AFGRAD Fellow at the University of Florida, and John J. Koran, Jr., Professor and Curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History, analyze the informal education field in the Republic of Burundi, a small country located in Central Africa. This discussion focuses on natural history museums and zoos, their exhibits and visitor behavior, which may serve as a valuable and less expensive adjunct to formal learning.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Albert NdayitwayekoJohn J. Koran, Jr.
In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood discusses findings from a study that examined two aspects of the public image of visitor facilities: the expectations of what is likely to be found at different types of facilities; and, some general perceptions of these different types of visitor facilities. Facility types included science museums, history museums, historic sites, state parks, natural history museums, and art museums.