This paper is intended to provide the beginnings of a blueprint to help exhibition developers, in whatever role they may hold, to understand how visitors use exhibitions and exhibits. It describes the process and findings of researchers at the Science Museum in London, who created a "model of visitor behavior."
In this paper, researchers from the Smithsonian Institution (SI) describe the ways in which SI is welcoming the Americans with Disabilities Act as an aid in empowering visitors and employees with disabilities.
In this paper, the Franklin Institute's Ann Mintz discusses the managerial challenges associated with evaluation projects. Mintz explains how evaluators teeter on a continuum serving as both as artists and educators throughout the evaluation process. She cites evidence from an ongoing project at the Franklin Institute called the The Franklin Institute Computer Network that serves seven categories of museum visitors.
In this paper/talk, Roger S. Miles of London's Natural History Museum in London discusses the topic of exhibition teams. Miles argues that an exhibition closely reflects (or models) the team that puts it together and offers suggestions with examples for building successful teams and therefore, successful exhibits.
This paper examines the museum visitor, and conjointly, the exhibition media to be understand the concept of the visitor through trends of thought that have defined it over time. Researcher Bernard Shiele discusses the role of the visitor as an essential factor in museum discourse as well as the focus of this discourse.
In this paper, evaluator Marilyn G. Hood of Hood Associates examines 70 years of audience research and what we know about frequent visitors versus occasional visitors. Hood recommends broadening evaluators' perspective of visitor research to include literature from the fields of sociology, leisure science, consumer behavior, and psychology.
In this article, VSA President Harris Shettel examines some of the issues that are relevant to the continued growth and development of the field of visitor studies. Shettel presents these issues in the form of questions and shares his answers about the status of exhibit evaluation, the flaws of traditional visitor evaluation, etc.
This article provides a summary of William Whyte's 1980 book about Whyte's research studying New York City's urban spaces, including parks, playgrounds, and city blocks.
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William WhyteVisitor Studies Association
In this article, Lynne M. Westphal of the USDA Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station, outlines discussions exploring the interactions between plant communities and people communities at a November 1992 symposium. The symposium aimed to assess current knowledge about the active involvement of people with plants and to clarify research needs that will lead to improved program management and information delivery.
In this article, Herbter W. Schroeder, of the USDA Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station, discusses a research study conducted at the Morton Arboretum (MA), which examined landscape preferences and meanings for a group of MA users. Schroeder interprets the findings of this study and makes recommendations for MA management and exhibit developers based on this research.
In this article, Marilyn G. Hood, Ph.D., of Hood Associates, discusses two year-long studies at major outdoor settings, which offer insights into the reasons why people choose to visit botanical gardens and arboretums and what they enjoy about these visits. Hood summarizes methods and key findings from theses four-season studies, which were conducted in 1987 at the Holden Arboretum (Mentor, Ohio) and in 1989 at the Chicago Botanic Garden (Glencoe, IL).
In this article, Jeff Hayward discusses the work of his evaluation group, People, Places & Design Research, in conducting visitor research of Lincoln Park on behalf of the Chicago Park District and the Recreation and Leisure Task Force. Researchers used three different methods to analyze the public's usage patterns and perceptions of Lincoln Park. Hayward outlines key findings and the value of this research project for master planning.