This is a brief summary of Randall Washburne and J. Alan Wagar's 1972 article, "Evaluating Visitor Behavior to Exhibit Content." Washburne and Wagar studied visitor preference for types of exhibit presentations in visitor centers. Key findings include visitors' preferences related to three categories: stimulus, subjects, and strategies for communication.
This is a brief summary of a 1973 article entitled "Exhibits: Art Form or Educational Medium?" in which author Harris Shettel classifies exhibits into three major categories: intrinsically interesting exhibits, exhibits with an aesthetic appeal, and exhibits with an educational role.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationHarris Shettel
This is a brief summary of a 1986 article by researchers at Florida State University, who studied if hands-on exhibits attract more visitors and hold visitors' attention longer, and whether a specific age group or sex is more attracted to these type of exhibits.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationJ.J. KoranM.L. KoranS.J. Longino
This is a brief summary of a 1983 article by Hayward and Larkin featured in the "Museum Studies Journal." The article discussed a study conducted by the researchers, to compare pretest vs. post-test visitor perceptions of a renovated historical house in Old Sturbridge Village, an outdoor history museum in Massachusetts.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationD.G. HaywardJ.W. Larkin
This is a brief summary of the section on the two stages of formative evaluation in C.G. Screven's 1986 article, "Exhibitions and Information Centers: Principles and Approaches."
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationC.G. Screven
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 is a brief summary of a 1986 article entitled "A Process Description of Literature Evaluation, Walkthrough Post-Occupancy Evaluations, A Generic Program and Design for the City of Albuquerque," by Preiser Wolfgang and Richard Pugh. This evaluation model, commonly used in architecture, stresses the importance of making evaluation criteria explicit and involves three levels discussed in this summary.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationRichard PughPresier Wolfgang
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.
This is a brief summary of Jeff Hayward's article, "Research and Evaluation in Children's Museums: Negative, Positive Results" featured in the ILVS Review. This article discusses several aspects of evaluation.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationJeff Hayward
This is a summary of Roger Miles's 1986 article, "Lessons in 'Human Biology' - Testing a Theory of Exhibition Design," featured in "The International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship." In this article, Miles described an attempt to apply 11 "initial working assumptions" based on current education and psychological research to the development of an exhibit.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationRoger Miles
This is a summary of Ross Loomis's 1987 book entitled "Museum Visitor Evaluation: New Tool for Management." The book is a valuable "textbook" and useful reference for professionals in exhibition-type settings or those wanted to study visitor behavior.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationRoss Loomis
This is an excerpt from Harris Shettel's 1968 article, "An Evaluation of Existing Criteria for Judging the Quality of Science Exhibits" featured in "Curator." Shettel lists fifteen categories for judging exhibits.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Visitor Studies AssociationHarris Shettel