tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12077203024078536972024-02-08T18:13:48.922-08:00Museums NowWhere are we going, and how are we getting there?Maria Mortatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02345208082249376642noreply@blogger.comBlogger232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-23189601217356515522012-10-25T03:27:00.000-07:002012-10-25T03:27:00.120-07:00Place-Based Learning in Museums<br />
<b>By Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London<i></i></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KDwwNIJbUQo/UIkPzH-W3uI/AAAAAAAAAM0/0rgxWnuYsFc/s1600/553.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KDwwNIJbUQo/UIkPzH-W3uI/AAAAAAAAAM0/0rgxWnuYsFc/s320/553.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Many museums use place-based learning to keep their offerings unique and closely linked to their communities. But what is place-based learning and how can place-based learning ideas be incorporated into overall institutional planning?<br />
<br />
Place-based learning is an educational approach that involves the use of the local community and environment as the central content in the development of institutional learning goals, programs and exhibitions. Place-based education promotes learning that is rooted in what is local - the unique history, environment, culture, economy, literature, and art of a particular place – to benefit both the community and the learners. Using this approach, an institution begins with its “place” as a starting point to connect concepts in language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and other subjects across the curriculum. Emphasizing hands-on, real-world learning experiences, this approach to education has proven to increase academic achievement according to researchers at the <a href="http://www.sustainable.org/living/education-training-and-lifelong-learning/751-the-orion-society">Orion Society</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CtEDg8HU-hs/UIkQcoKTSYI/AAAAAAAAANA/ua64B7FLG8Q/s1600/EricBeck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="247" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CtEDg8HU-hs/UIkQcoKTSYI/AAAAAAAAANA/ua64B7FLG8Q/s320/EricBeck.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Why chose this local and place-based focus? One of the main reasons is to promote the uniqueness of the institution within its community so that it does not resemble any other museum in any other part of the world. A unique mission and vision based on a particular place can help with fundraising and audience development as the Museum can clearly articulate why it is different from other Museums of their type as well as how the organization is tied to the community. Another important reason is that people have connections to specific places and learning is stronger if new ideas presented by the Museum link with emotions or knowledge that visitors bring with them.<br />
<br />
Many museums of all types are using their unique locations to present place-based learning that can only happen right in that location and draw on the resources found only there. Here are some examples of Museums of different types that use their “place” as a central theme.<br />
<br />
<i>History Museum Example:</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DuhKW6nRN74/UIkQ0kXE9XI/AAAAAAAAANM/acPd5pI9Pbw/s1600/Minneapolis-Mill_City_Museum-20070514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="207" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DuhKW6nRN74/UIkQ0kXE9XI/AAAAAAAAANM/acPd5pI9Pbw/s320/Minneapolis-Mill_City_Museum-20070514.jpg" /></a></div> <br />
The <a href="http://www.millcitymuseum.org/">Mill City Museum</a> in Minnesota focuses very specifically on the story of the mill that existed at that site. Looking out the windows, visitors can see the mill’s foundations, the river beyond, the transport ships and the city that grew up around that place. Exhibitions focus on how the building was used, but then radiate out to address issues that affect everyone, no matter where they are from.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PbjEDiXOssI/UIkRA9RzeaI/AAAAAAAAANY/il2Emt88xhI/s1600/Mill%2BCity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PbjEDiXOssI/UIkRA9RzeaI/AAAAAAAAANY/il2Emt88xhI/s320/Mill%2BCity.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The site is used to address the topic of the intertwined histories of the flour industry, the Mississippi River, and the city of Minneapolis.<br />
<br />
<i>Children’s Museum Example:</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gOecZX-w3lw/UIkRcAAMZ3I/AAAAAAAAANk/mAimfaLsSnA/s1600/BayAreaMuseum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="198" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gOecZX-w3lw/UIkRcAAMZ3I/AAAAAAAAANk/mAimfaLsSnA/s320/BayAreaMuseum.jpg" /></a></div> <br />
Underneath the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Area, <a href="http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/">The Bay Area Discovery Museum</a> has created programs and exhibitions that use the unique site and historic buildings to address the natural, built and cultural environments of the people, plants and animals that make their home there. One of the reasons the Museum chose this local approach was that childhood experts advised staff that by getting children to care about one plant, person or animal that the child was more likely to come to care about the overall environment and the living things that shared the habitat with them as they grew older. Exhibitions focus on art, science, and the built and natural environment of the San Francisco Bay area in order to build empathy and stewardship toward their communities no matter where they visitors are from. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SvZQu6qFl4c/UIkR2F6VJqI/AAAAAAAAANw/cw9xHAfVPQc/s1600/35aa3a0cf4d26cf0a00f61bd3054d531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="213" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SvZQu6qFl4c/UIkR2F6VJqI/AAAAAAAAANw/cw9xHAfVPQc/s320/35aa3a0cf4d26cf0a00f61bd3054d531.jpg" /></a></div> <br />
The Museum’s mission is focused on place and staff developed an <a href="http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/fileadmin/badm/resources/framework_copyriteversion1.pdf">interpretive framework</a> that guides exhibition and program development around this idea of place.<br />
<br />
<i>Science/Environmental Museum Example: </i><br />
<br />
Another place-based institution is the <a href="http://www.edenproject.com/">Eden Project</a> in Cornwall, England. Built on the site of a former mine, his collection of biomes was built using sustainable building techniques and served as a catalyst for economic regeneration in the area. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FLxWPGwMNxc/UIkTxgstahI/AAAAAAAAAOU/Gke8CwMlaQ0/s1600/Eden_Project_Cornwall%257E82%257E68.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="238" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FLxWPGwMNxc/UIkTxgstahI/AAAAAAAAAOU/Gke8CwMlaQ0/s320/Eden_Project_Cornwall%257E82%257E68.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The location itself tells a dramatic story of renewal and regeneration while inspiring visitors to care for their world and gives hope that even the most polluted environment can be turned around. Exhibits and programs focus on gardening, people and learning, the environment and climate change all with the aim of influencing the everyday choices we make and how those affect the world around us.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3bIWUkgCG38/UIkSiflVEWI/AAAAAAAAAOI/ye6c_RuMMcU/s1600/eden_2006_night_465x349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3bIWUkgCG38/UIkSiflVEWI/AAAAAAAAAOI/ye6c_RuMMcU/s320/eden_2006_night_465x349.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The Eden Project addresses issues of environmental recovery and the relationship of the buildings with the landscape and the landscape with the people. Visitors can engage with the plantings, art works and exhibitions or engage with programs about planting and connections to local towns. A <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/video/2011/sep/11/architecture-cornwall">video</a> is available if you are interested in learning more about the Eden Project. <br />
<br />
You can learn more about place-based learning at:<br />
<a href="http://www.ecoliteracy.org/strategies/place-based-learning">The Center for Eco-Literacy</a><br />
<a href="http://www.promiseofplace.org/">The Promise of Place</a><br />
<a href="http://www.placebasedlearning.co.uk/">Place-Based Learning UK</a><br />
<br />
Tell us about how your Museum is using place-based learning!<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-22492143753250779282012-10-19T05:12:00.000-07:002012-10-19T05:12:20.820-07:00<b>Special Museum Spaces<br />
<br />
<i>Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London</b></i><br />
<br />
Museums are always looking for ways to increase the impact of learning for our visitors. One way to increase impact and memorability is through special spaces and dramatic environments as we are more likely to remember learning messages when they are tied to an overall memorable experience. Historic surveys have shown that some of the most memorable and influential exhibitions are those that take place in special spaces, such as the walk-through heart at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and the grain chutes at the Minnesota History Center. By experiencing the learning goals as part of the overall environment, the exhibits and educational messages are more memorable and powerful over longer periods.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X5KK5uReWn4/UIE9I3eMRtI/AAAAAAAAAK8/xJmIdjGi8i4/s1600/big-heart-crop.jpg%2Bw%253D640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="255" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X5KK5uReWn4/UIE9I3eMRtI/AAAAAAAAAK8/xJmIdjGi8i4/s320/big-heart-crop.jpg%2Bw%253D640.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4pYaBq28No8/UIE9O3XSk1I/AAAAAAAAALI/nVIr1tpl4jg/s1600/GrainlandKid1_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="223" width="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4pYaBq28No8/UIE9O3XSk1I/AAAAAAAAALI/nVIr1tpl4jg/s320/GrainlandKid1_300.jpg" /></a></div><br />
By strongly linking important collections and immersive environments to special places, learning goals are enhanced and re-enforced. In fact, spaces influence all of us in many more subtle ways: researchers are finding that memory is enhanced when university students regularly change the locations in which they are studying, resulting the topic of study having additional hooks within the brain. <br />
<br />
Does a space have to be immersive and dramatic to be special? What makes a space special anyway? For children, special spaces and places are frequently those where they remember doing something unusual, where they remember being especially happy or a favorite place they often visit rather than somewhere very dramatic. <br />
<br />
Through their work with children, the <a href="http://www.geography.org.uk/">Geographical Association</a> in the United Kingdom has created a word cloud (you can create one <a href="http://www.wordle.net/">here</a>) of words that children use when discussing their favorite places on their school grounds:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dXcGlb-V8TE/UIE_bpnmt5I/AAAAAAAAALU/m7JnupftnRM/s1600/GA_CPDPlaceWordle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="186" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dXcGlb-V8TE/UIE_bpnmt5I/AAAAAAAAALU/m7JnupftnRM/s320/GA_CPDPlaceWordle.jpg" /></a></div> <br />
As you can see, features of the natural environment, along with special people, are the words most frequently cited.<br />
<br />
David Sobel has studied children and their special places and is the author of the book Children’s Special Places: Exploring the Role of Forts, Dens, and Bush Houses in Middle Childhood. Throughout the book he explores the secret world of children in which they find and create their own environments. In these special places, children develop and control environments of their own and enjoy the freedom from the rules of the adult world. In addition to helping children situate themselves in the social world, special places may assist the child in the transition to adolescence.<br />
<br />
<b>Examples of Special Places</b><br />
Some special museum environments I’ve seen recently have been very effective in creating magical spaces and have provided very enjoyable and memorable experiences. One of these was the playground area of the <a href="http://www.zoo-berlin.de/zoo/visit-tickets.html?L=1">Berlin Zoo</a>. There were several climbing areas that had novel shapes, allowed for some basic change, and provided unique climbing experiences. My children were particularly entranced by the uniqueness and playfulness of these unusual spaces and I almost needed to bribe them to go see some animals (including a giant Panda). While being a great place to let off steam, these spaces encouraged conversations about eggs (who makes them and who doesn’t) and characteristics of animals and was one of my children’s favorite experiences in all of Berlin.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tCR8E7uiWeY/UIFAf957TjI/AAAAAAAAALg/6V9dni6mHkY/s1600/Berlin%2BZoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="213" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tCR8E7uiWeY/UIFAf957TjI/AAAAAAAAALg/6V9dni6mHkY/s320/Berlin%2BZoo.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-le_qYRKFxmo/UIFAnVmtiWI/AAAAAAAAALs/3oZ7cwZuVQ0/s1600/F%2Bat%2BBerlin%2BZoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-le_qYRKFxmo/UIFAnVmtiWI/AAAAAAAAALs/3oZ7cwZuVQ0/s320/F%2Bat%2BBerlin%2BZoo.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Two fairly recent exhibitions at the <a href="http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/hayward-gallery-visual-arts">Hayward Gallery</a> in London have also provided special spaces that were incredibly appealing to visitors of all ages. The first was the <a href="http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/hayward-gallery-and-visual-arts/hayward-gallery-exhibitions/past/psychobuildings-artists-take-on-architecture">Psycho Buildings</a> exhibition, which featured a metal, climb-within, change of perspective piece, a maze created by a fiber artist along with visitors, and a rooftop rowing pool among other installations. More recently, an <a href="http://festivalbrazil.southbankcentre.co.uk/ernesto-neto/">Ernesto Neto</a> exhibition included walk around spaces made of padded fabric with spices sewn in, providing for smell as an additional component of place-making. These immersive, dramatic and fun spaces allowed the Hayward to expand their audiences and broaden the community’s overall assumptions about modern art.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-81IrpDFIhAs/UIFA5TtyDII/AAAAAAAAAL8/O2m0xeyE_YU/s1600/psycho-life-tunnel_674226n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="214" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-81IrpDFIhAs/UIFA5TtyDII/AAAAAAAAAL8/O2m0xeyE_YU/s320/psycho-life-tunnel_674226n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rsQPJEPh2Uc/UIFA-UBEPtI/AAAAAAAAAMI/0eMIJwMwKxg/s1600/ErnestoNetoInteriorShotofTheEdgesoftheWorld2010HaywardGallery.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="224" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rsQPJEPh2Uc/UIFA-UBEPtI/AAAAAAAAAMI/0eMIJwMwKxg/s320/ErnestoNetoInteriorShotofTheEdgesoftheWorld2010HaywardGallery.png" /></a></div><br />
Recently in London, the Tate Modern opened the <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tanks-tate-modern/eventseries/tanks-art-action">Tate Tanks</a>, subterranean former oil tanks that have become a space for live art, performance, installation and film. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the new tank spaces are also intended to provide room for enhanced live encounters between artists and audience.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8EIRY1-C2uo/UIFBJ9DMcAI/AAAAAAAAAMU/BfOR8s8TZbo/s1600/tanks%2Bfoyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8EIRY1-C2uo/UIFBJ9DMcAI/AAAAAAAAAMU/BfOR8s8TZbo/s320/tanks%2Bfoyer.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Early reviews of the space emphasize that the tanks have been kept as close as possible to their original identity, resulting in naked, concrete spaces. The stark spaces are meant to act as a neutral backdrop to the live artworks that will take place here. Like the Turbine Hall, which retains the feel of its industrial past, the use of the tanks also allows art to occur in a found space that maintains industrial echoes of its past.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4gF6YbUE2vM/UIFBShdgCuI/AAAAAAAAAMg/VC19-Hwew48/s1600/T12031_9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="213" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4gF6YbUE2vM/UIFBShdgCuI/AAAAAAAAAMg/VC19-Hwew48/s320/T12031_9.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Museum director Nicholas Serota says this about the tank spaces: "It will bring the kind of work that has traditionally been seen in alternative spaces, for short durations and often barely recorded, into the museum. It will bring it into our own sense of art history as something that is not on the margins, but something central to art."<br />
<br />
What special places have made an impact on you or your Museum?<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-46808427412477735562012-03-21T07:28:00.008-07:002012-03-21T09:57:45.044-07:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">The Serious Side of Play<br />Lessons learned from the book: <span style="font-style:italic;">Play</span>, by Dr. Stuart Brown<br /><br />Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London</span><br /><br />George Bernard Shaw said, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing,” and Dr. <a href="http://www.stuartbrownmd.com/">Stuart Brown</a> is in full agreement. Dr. Brown’s recent book, <span style="font-style:italic;">Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul</span>, supports the idea that play is central to our being human and necessary in order to be creative, productive and happy members of our communities.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iaM9H-NaOI4/T2noGjJn4EI/AAAAAAAAAKY/2tljAD7CWH4/s1600/jump.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iaM9H-NaOI4/T2noGjJn4EI/AAAAAAAAAKY/2tljAD7CWH4/s320/jump.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722360000763387970" /></a><br /> <br />Dr. Brown is a medical doctor, psychiatrist, clinical researcher and the founder of the <a href="http://www.nifplay.org/about_us.html">National Institute for Play</a> as well as the producer of a three-part PBS series, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Promise of Play</span>, and has appeared on NPR and in the New York Times Magazine.<br /><br />In the book, Dr. Brown highlights play through biological evolution and gives examples of how play makes the brain more adaptable and smarter. He also give examples of how fun, purposeful play is important in developing social and emotional intelligences in addition to sharpening skills needed for everyday survival even in animals. He gives evidence of the correlation between brain size and the amount of play in different animals and play seems to be one of the most advanced methods nature has invented to allow a complex brain to create itself.<br /><br />One of the most compelling stories in the book is that of the hiring managers at the jet propulsion labs in California. As their top engineers were retiring they were hiring young hot-shots who had done well in the best engineering programs, but found that many of these engineers couldn’t solve complex problems as well as the older generation. The human resources folks began a study of why this was and conducted a vast number of interviews in order to determine factors that differed between the older engineers and the younger ones to improve their hiring decisions. What they found was that both the older and younger engineers who excelled at solving complex problems were those who worked with their hands in their childhoods – the ones who took radios and clocks apart, built tree-houses, and had an understanding about how things worked in a three-dimensional environment.<br /><br />One of the types of play highlighted is that of physical play, including being able to play with, manipulate, and alter real materials in your hands, which connects to powerful areas of learning and creativity in the brain.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D0h0Ad9yaZ4/T2no0DMqkLI/AAAAAAAAAKk/pGg_798xOwg/s1600/child_play.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D0h0Ad9yaZ4/T2no0DMqkLI/AAAAAAAAAKk/pGg_798xOwg/s320/child_play.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722360782460194994" /></a><br /> <br />Other observations highlighted in the book include the study of animals that partake in differing amounts of play. Animal and human play researchers have found that animals that stop playing exhibit more compulsive, rigid and purpose-driven behavior whereas beings that include play throughout their lives are more open to change, exhibit sustained curiosity and are better able to incorporate new information.<br /><br />Play is frequently used to provide relief when struggling with a big idea or when interacting with others where conflict may be present. A joke at the right time can relax and open people to being able to communicate and listen to another when that might not have been possible without a playful ice breaker. Group play encourages creativity and creates bonds, which is why corporations hold brainstorming sessions and off-site team-building days.<br /><br />Dr. Brown makes the case that not only does play help our brains to function better, but that there is evidence that play increases our immune strength. Not only is play key to adaptation and survival but it is our culture: our music, art, sports, dance and festivals.<br /><br />As the knowledge economy is overtaken by the creative economy, play becomes crucial as our brain’s ability to innovate is linked to play. Work can be play, as almost anything can be play if a playful attitude is present. As James Michener wrote: <br /> “The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he’s always going both. “<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gn6THnhdcG0/T2npFGUdxfI/AAAAAAAAAKw/8wFrgQB92ec/s1600/LeafJump.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 252px; height: 306px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gn6THnhdcG0/T2npFGUdxfI/AAAAAAAAAKw/8wFrgQB92ec/s320/LeafJump.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722361075355993586" /></a><br /> <br />What part can Museums take in encouraging play for all? Museums of all types have the ability to encourage play in visitors of all ages. Children’s museums can create playful environments that parents and grandparent can engage in and all Museums can find ways of allowing visitors to manipulate real things with their hands and experience with their whole bodies. Some of the tips Dr. Brown suggests lend themselves particularly well to the Museum environment:<br /><br />1. Connect to an individual’s play history. When interviewing adults about play in their childhood, many quote the opportunity to make something with their hands, using specific toys such as dolls, blocks and Lincoln logs and engaging with drama. Museums can encourage these connections by providing manipulative toys that allow generations to talk about their play histories while also providing things like costumes in adult sizes.<br /><br />2. Expose your visitors to play. Create opportunities for visitors to slow down, sit quietly and listen, pick up a ball or sit on the floor with a child.<br /><br />3. Give permission to play. Create an environment in the Museum where play feels welcome, un-judged, and people are given the opportunity to laugh at themselves in a safe place.<br /><br />4. But also give permission to skip play if it’s uncomfortable for anyone.<br /><br />5. Be active. Museums can creatively present so many ideas and objects through innovative means and can include movement. One of my favorite programs at the Tate Britain was in conjunction with an exhibit of Francis Bacon paintings. They had a movement program called “bend it like Bacon,” which invited visitors to mock the sometimes very strange positions of models in the paintings.<br /><br />6. Create a safe environment. Free your visitors from the fear that they might fail or look silly when playing. Staff can model play and put visitors at lease and areas where visitors might make funny faces or do something silly might have some privacy walls.<br /><br />Dr. Seuss’ was an individual who never stopped playing or encouraging play in others through his many books. In honor of his birthday last month here is one of his quotes: “I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.” I think Dr. Brown couldn’t agree more.<br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/stuart_brown_says_play_is_more_than_fun_it_s_vital.html">HERE</a> to hear Dr. Stuart Brown talk about play on TED.<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-33510381955075757712012-01-27T13:35:00.000-08:002012-01-27T13:42:55.059-08:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Me in 3D: Live Science Research in a Museum Setting<br />Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London</span><br /><br />The new identity exhibit at the <a href="http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/">Science Museum in London</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/galleries/who_am_i.aspx">Who am I?</a>, includes a gallery called Live Science in which real scientists come into the Museum to carry out their research using Museum visitors as volunteers.<br /> <br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XD5id3-kUGg/TyMZv0d-P1I/AAAAAAAAAKA/QzBf_n8XIfc/s1600/DSC00146.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XD5id3-kUGg/TyMZv0d-P1I/AAAAAAAAAKA/QzBf_n8XIfc/s320/DSC00146.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702429862510083922" /></a><br /><br />The current partnership is called “<a href="http://mein3d.info/">me in 3D</a>” and involves having one’s face photographed by a three-dimensional camera. The study is in partnership with the National Health Service, the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and the Institute for Child Health in which they are hoping to record the differences in facial shape in order to help improve facial reconstruction surgery. While much is known about the bones of the face, little is known about what makes a face the shape it is and about the skin and muscles that make up our faces. By having more information about our faces, researchers will have greater opportunities to plan and perform the best facial surgery they can in the future.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JB-YBgmhCBU/TyMaDOu0KEI/AAAAAAAAAKM/8pM6SRw_q4Q/s1600/DSC00144.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JB-YBgmhCBU/TyMaDOu0KEI/AAAAAAAAAKM/8pM6SRw_q4Q/s320/DSC00144.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702430195977562178" /></a> <br /><br />I went and had my face scanned this week and it was a quick and easy process given that the area was not very crowded. Visitors must sign a release form, which is the most time-consuming part of the process, and then remove any earrings or other metal from their head, put on a paper cap and get ready for your close-up! Apparently nine lenses are used, but all of this is accomplished through what seems like one photo as all photos are taken simultaneously.<br /><br />Once your photo is taken you get a slip with a copy of your release and a sticker with your number on it. There are computers located in the area in which you can access and manipulate your image - I assumed I could go home and access my image from home, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It would certainly be an improvement if you could also access your image at home with your personal access number, but it was satisfying to feel like part of a bigger project that might benefit children and adults in the future.<br /><br />How are you using live science or resources in your community to link science to your visitors?<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-63911198621691314592011-12-07T10:45:00.000-08:002011-12-07T10:56:58.746-08:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Up in the Canopy, the Treetop walk at Kew Gardens</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London</span><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wRWCJH4J0_k/Tt-1AoDjC7I/AAAAAAAAAI4/Tq19wFwAsGw/s1600/DSC05080.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wRWCJH4J0_k/Tt-1AoDjC7I/AAAAAAAAAI4/Tq19wFwAsGw/s320/DSC05080.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683460277121780658" /></a><br /><br />In 2008, Kew Gardens opened <a href="http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/garden-attractions-A-Z/Xstrata-Treetop-Walkway.htm">The Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway</a> on International Biodiversity Day. The Treetop walkway is a series of paths and platforms 18 meters (59 feet) up in the air, allowing garden visitors to walk about the tree canopy. At a cost of £3 million, it was designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the firm who also designed the London Eye.<br /><br />The experience starts underground as visitors enter a crack in the ground to explore an exhibit about the natural world beneath the trees. In this dark space, a mechanical system of cogs and wheels animates different creatures that live under the soil and highlights the relationship between tree roots and micro-organisms. There is no signage but there are video screens showing these micro-organisms and there is something very compelling about the mechanical and industrial aesthetic of the space. Along the flooring is a row of stained glass, which adds color and magic to the exhibit.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H79AuEWK9gI/Tt-1brVBCLI/AAAAAAAAAJE/XXfHJGN9rKw/s1600/DSC05062.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H79AuEWK9gI/Tt-1brVBCLI/AAAAAAAAAJE/XXfHJGN9rKw/s320/DSC05062.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683460741856823474" /></a><br /> <br />The walkway itself was a challenge for designers to install as they were trying to get as close as possible to the tree canopy while also protecting the root system below. In order to protect the trees, a radar survey was taken so that the structure could be placed in a way that would not damage the trees between major roots. In addition, traditional concrete footings were replaced by shallower steel grills so that the smaller, fibrous roots would not be harmed. Each support is tied together but custom-made welded grills.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Q-WBdjXlqk/Tt-1u3LQqgI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/5bknB_scQ6M/s1600/DSC05068.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Q-WBdjXlqk/Tt-1u3LQqgI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/5bknB_scQ6M/s320/DSC05068.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683461071454644738" /></a><br /> <br />I usually visit the garden with my children and they always insist on doing the walkway. The elevator has never worked, but we always enjoy the climb and the children especially like the donor element at the top. Visitors can slide a coin into one of three slots and listen as the money clinks through the structure down to a collection box below.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nMVHGsxKCqE/Tt-1_xnSXRI/AAAAAAAAAJc/SV5eMaz2jzc/s1600/DSC05067.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nMVHGsxKCqE/Tt-1_xnSXRI/AAAAAAAAAJc/SV5eMaz2jzc/s320/DSC05067.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683461362019360018" /></a><br /> <br />It is a big thrill to be up so high and we are always taken in by the stunning views and the slight vertigo we experience as you can see down to the ground through the flooring of the walkway. The signage is very simple and we do always read it – the signs are brass plaques in relief with one interesting sentence about tree biology. However, we rarely talk about the trees while we are up there and more could be done to draw our attention to the trees while we are up so high.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-liC2ToewWPE/Tt-2ReWzJaI/AAAAAAAAAJo/8XyfOhZ395M/s1600/DSC05072.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-liC2ToewWPE/Tt-2ReWzJaI/AAAAAAAAAJo/8XyfOhZ395M/s320/DSC05072.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683461666087576994" /></a><br /> <br />Once back at the bottom, there is an overturned tree that has been sculpted so that the “circulation system” of the tree is exposed. There are always lots of children climbing on the tree and we always look at the exhibit because as we have become much more interested in learning about trees through experiencing the walkway. It is inspiring to be up so high and be reminded of the beauty of our surroundings when we can really take them in!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kY3qzFO2RKs/Tt-2tkJhrwI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/M2k9xDUM1_s/s1600/DSC09583.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kY3qzFO2RKs/Tt-2tkJhrwI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/M2k9xDUM1_s/s320/DSC09583.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683462148678856450" /></a><br /> <br />Have you experienced a treetop walkway or treetop canopy exhibit elsewhere? Let us know your thoughts about being up in the trees.<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-81887986889054001072011-10-17T02:50:00.000-07:002011-10-17T03:21:41.064-07:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Adventure Playgrounds: Putting ADVENTURE in the Playground</span><br />Part 3 in a 3 part series<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PCYX3WrweFQ/Tpv-oj3_pHI/AAAAAAAAAHM/OF-uT_8TaWI/s1600/Turbineslides.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 264px; height: 191px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PCYX3WrweFQ/Tpv-oj3_pHI/AAAAAAAAAHM/OF-uT_8TaWI/s320/Turbineslides.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664400929126851698" /></a><br /><br />There are concerns afloat about whether or not playgrounds have gotten too safe and sterile. A summer <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/science/19tierney.html?_r=3">New York Times article</a> addressed this issue and discussed how playgrounds and parks that offer some risk-taking can be places that encourage children to address their fears and have the opportunity to conquer them. Have adventure playgrounds in London found the right balance?<br /><br />My observation is that some have worked hard to create environments that are unique and interesting, but that most are staying away from any actual danger or risk. Here, the words “health and safety” only need to be uttered and any risk is squashed out of any idea involving children or presentation to the public in which someone will have to take responsibility for any potential injury. That said, there are a quite a few public places where children and families can have a big adventure, but public playgrounds don’t necessarily seem to be those place.<br /><br />Adventure playgrounds in London do seem to be succeeding in creating spaces that are unique and different from “off the shelf” playground equipment. In researching the best adventure playgrounds in London (and <a href="http://www.londonplay.org.uk/document.php?document_id=1426">awards</a> are given annually), several rise to the top. Two of the most highly ranked include:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lE-PhSz4VhU/Tpv-3te4dbI/AAAAAAAAAHY/1AsS4d60694/s1600/charlieChaplain.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 159px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lE-PhSz4VhU/Tpv-3te4dbI/AAAAAAAAAHY/1AsS4d60694/s320/charlieChaplain.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664401189403915698" /></a><br />The Charlie Chaplain Adventure Playground, and <br /><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JYhlmAEo_qI/Tpv_Cks4NQI/AAAAAAAAAHk/LgQzhNNF-4U/s1600/KilburnGrange.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 201px; height: 251px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JYhlmAEo_qI/Tpv_Cks4NQI/AAAAAAAAAHk/LgQzhNNF-4U/s320/KilburnGrange.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664401376025261314" /></a> The Kilburn Grange Adventure Playground<br /><br />Like playgrounds in the United States, the Adventure Playgrounds in London have many goals. Along with the desire to provide imaginative and fun places for children to create their own play and environments, the playgrounds are also seeking to meet universal design and green building standards. Construction materials are often re-claimed and climbers need to offer ramps and alternative ways for children with different abilities to interact with the activities. Sometimes these goals conflict, but all are important to the community and can force interesting and novel solutions.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q1-laIGVXIA/Tpv_OYwvysI/AAAAAAAAAHw/BgYXM7FIPQk/s1600/Kilburndoors.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 260px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q1-laIGVXIA/Tpv_OYwvysI/AAAAAAAAAHw/BgYXM7FIPQk/s320/Kilburndoors.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664401578978691778" /></a><br /> A lovely way to use re-claimed materials at the Kilburn Grange Adventure Playground.<br /><br /><br />Many of the adventure playgrounds in London serve children in need and are part of housing projects (the Glamis Adventure Playground is associated with the Tower Hamlets). These larger organizations, along with the local council, supply needed funds as the operations of adventure playgrounds is expensive. Cost seems to be the most limiting factor in providing risk – providing supervision and reviewing safety concerns are staff-intensive endeavors and high cost. As a result, these Adventure Playgrounds have limited hours (after-school and weekends) but provide staff to help and offer more complex opportunities for building and fort/den making.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DjuVG5VBbEc/TpwA4qmS4nI/AAAAAAAAAIs/gygDqMVbL2Y/s1600/Glamis.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 259px; height: 194px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DjuVG5VBbEc/TpwA4qmS4nI/AAAAAAAAAIs/gygDqMVbL2Y/s320/Glamis.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664403404832825970" /></a> Glamis Adventure Playground.<br /><br />So where are these bigger adventures occurring and how are they financed? Across Europe and the United Kingdom both for-profit and non-profit outdoor centers are giving children and families access to scarier adventures.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0x9m4vGWSBs/Tpv_YCxoEII/AAAAAAAAAH8/cLvs3ls57Xo/s1600/Go%2BApe.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 230px; height: 219px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0x9m4vGWSBs/Tpv_YCxoEII/AAAAAAAAAH8/cLvs3ls57Xo/s320/Go%2BApe.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664401744875491458" /></a><br /><br />One of these is the “Go Ape” series of parks in the United Kingdom.<br /><br />With 27 centers throughout the UK, <a href="http://goape.co.uk/">Go Ape</a> parks are located in forests with tree-top wires, crossings (using ladders, walkways, bridges and tunnels made of wood, rope and super-strong wire) and zip wires all taking place in tree-tops. Attendees are required to attend a safety briefing and training and instructors can be found throughout. It’s not in-expensive with three hour sessions costing £30 per adult ($47) and £20 ($31) per child.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RHHbYqdFCl4/Tpv_idoMcAI/AAAAAAAAAII/mJoIbTJ3mbw/s1600/GoApe2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 253px; height: 199px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RHHbYqdFCl4/Tpv_idoMcAI/AAAAAAAAAII/mJoIbTJ3mbw/s320/GoApe2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664401923882381314" /></a><br /><br />I must admit that the most adventurous museum experience I have seen was at the <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/carstenholler/">Tate Modern</a> in 2006/2007. Artist Carsten Höller installated enormous five story steel slides within the turbine gallery. The longest slide was 182 feet long with Holler claiming that slides can help combat mental health problems and viewed the installation as a “playground for the body and the brain.” The slides could be enjoyed as a participant or a voyeur as the top sides were transparent. During the run of the exhibition, children of all ages could be found leaving their adult concerns behind as the experienced the thrill of feeling like a child again and experiencing an activity that made one feel like they were taking a big risk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4MyFXPTMvRs/TpwAqbwYXjI/AAAAAAAAAIg/7PlQrGMIRF8/s1600/Tateslides.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 186px; height: 271px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4MyFXPTMvRs/TpwAqbwYXjI/AAAAAAAAAIg/7PlQrGMIRF8/s320/Tateslides.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664403160330427954" /></a><br /><br />The slides were not necessarily for children. Only people taller than two feet and 35 inches could go in the small slides and visitors had to be at least four feet 55 inches to ride the tall slides. Free timed tickets were available for the tallest slides with the smaller sides offering rides on a first come, first served basis.<br /><br />Safety did remain a concern and the Tate brought in an expert from Germany to check the weldings and screws. Holler reported that the inspector had a great time for half the day! The slides attracted more than 500,000 visitors with the gallery reporting only five injuries.<br /><br />In conclusion, Adventure Playgrounds in London provide much needed access to outdoor space and spaces that children can create themselves, but increasingly these spaces must limit the interactivity and staff-intensity of their offerings due to cost constraints. The private marketplace is providing adventurous outdoor play spaces for those who can afford to pay for them and some institutions are choosing to take risks to offer visitors of all ages opportunities to take risks and have an adventure.<br /><br />Let us know what your museum has been doing to provide visitors with some adventure and/or what adventurous experiences you’ve seen recently in the world!<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-36756640059882895762011-10-05T11:42:00.000-07:002011-10-05T11:43:48.727-07:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">What Does it Take to Nurture a Successful Human Being and Can Museums Help?</span><br /><br />Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London<br /><br /><br />A recent article in the <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/article;jsessionid=332B3CBC61F371276973F0A2EF7A13E8.w6?a=841121&single=1&f=76">New York Times</a> profiles the Riverdale Country School and its head, Dominic Randolph, as he and his prestigious private school aim to graduate students that demonstrate strong character. As part of Randolph’s exploration of character, he engaged with Martin Seligman (one of the founders of the Positive Psychology movement) and David Levin (superintendent of the KIPP schools in New York City) on the topic of developing character as part of the education system. <br /><br />Seligman recently co-authored a book called “Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification,” which outlines 24 character strengths that reach across cultures. These include traits like bravery, citizenship, fairness, wisdom and integrity as well as love, humor, zest, self-regulation and gratitude. They found that a cultivation of these strengths represents a reliable path to a life that is not just happy but also meaningful and fulfilling.<br /><br />Levin discovered that of his graduates that went to college or university, those that stayed on through graduation were not the students with the highest IQ, but the students who showed the highest character strengths. Added to the mix was the work of graduate student Angela Duckworth, whose research showed that measures of self-control are a more reliable predictors of grade-point average than IQ. But she found that outstanding achievement was accomplished by people who combined passion with unswerving dedication, a combination that she terms “grit.”<br /><br />Duckworth, Randolph and Levin condensed their lists down to a final list of strengths that they believe are likely to predict life satisfaction and high achievement: zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism and curiosity.<br /><br />Some of the changes in their schools have been the abolishment of AP classes and standard tests and include systems to train their students in standard curriculum of math and language, but also in perseverance and empathy. Students receive grades and assessments on their academic work but also on their character. Messages about behavior and values permeate the school day and are included in assemblies and explicit talk about character strengths are incorporated into every lesson.<br /><br />These schools are also working with parents to help them understand that their children may need some hardships in life to overcome in order to establish their own “grit.” The struggle to pull oneself through a crisis, to come to terms with your own shortcomings and to labor to overcome them is what is missing at many academically excellent schools and many of the everyday lives of American youth.<br /><br />Museums are well positioned to assist in building character traits in visitors of all ages. Some ways of doing this include:<br />• Helping to develop a sense of empathy through diverse programming and exhibitions, as well as presentations that tell individual stories;<br />• Building persistence through programs and exhibits that encourage visitors to create something, test it, tinker with it, and try again;<br />• Developing and encouraging passion in individuals through engagement with meaningful problems to be solved and beautiful objects;<br />• Inspiring curiosity and creativity through interactions with valued cultural objects with opportunities to take apart, create, explore;<br />• Setting up situations in which visitors can work together socially while problem solving.<br /><br />Any other ideas about how Museums can help nurture happy, productive and high-performing citizens?<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-86415723818016671802011-08-30T16:50:00.000-07:002011-08-31T11:09:59.026-07:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Adventure Playgrounds: A History</span> <br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span><br />
Part 2 in a 3 part series<br />
<br />
Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London, Maeryta Medrano, AIA LEED AP, President of Gyroscope, Inc; Chuck Howarth, VP, Gyroscope, Inc.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">What is an Adventure Playground?</span> <br />
The broadest definition of an Adventure Playground is a public open space where children can play and climb on structures usually made of wood, ropes and old tires (Cambridge Dictionaries Online). Early Adventure Playgrounds contained building materials and discarded industrial parts that were used by children to build with, hide in, climb on, or use in any way that they themselves directed.<br />
<br />
Some Adventure Playgrounds continue to follow the model of building while others focus on safe but exhilarating play such as zip-wires, ropes courses and tree climbing. The level of “danger” is frequently in proportion to the level of supervision, with some Adventure Playgrounds offering no adult supervision and, therefore a lower risk of injury, and some that are closely supervised.<br />
<br />
Overall, Adventure Playgrounds have some key attributes: <br />
• The child acts as leader. As early childhood educator Jean Marzollo explains,“A common mistake parents make is ignoring the special ability of children to teach themselves.” <br />
• Real stuff. Children have access to real environments and real materials. Pound the nail. Catch the frog. Build the tree house of your dreams. <br />
• Adult support-there to help, there to encourage, but not to direct. <br />
<br />
<b>Adventure Playgrounds in Europe</b><br />
There are some 1,000 such playgrounds in Europe, offering children the chance to build their own huts and forts from scrap materials, care for animals, or help out in the community garden. In the USA, there are still only a few such public places although many schools and pre-schools have been including elements of Adventure Playgrounds in their outdoor spaces.<br />
<br />
The first Adventure Playground opened in Emdrup, Denmark in 1943. It was conceived by the Danish landscape architect C. Th. Sørensen, who noticed that children were more interested in playing in junk or construction areas than in official playgrounds. In 1946, Lady Allen from England visited Emdrup and was impressed enough to bring the idea of this type of playground to London.<br />
<br />
Early pioneers in the European Adventure Playground movement also observed that children were naturally drawn to the destruction left in the wake of World War II. Rather than explore purpose-built playgrounds, children were attracted to the bomb sites of their cities and towns and could frequently be found creating their own imaginative play from materials found in these places of construction and de-construction.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RLo2HwZTLQc/Tl14frSfAyI/AAAAAAAAAF0/y8MGzspSupk/s1600/1628_348.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646801993384002338" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RLo2HwZTLQc/Tl14frSfAyI/AAAAAAAAAF0/y8MGzspSupk/s320/1628_348.jpg" style="float: left; height: 234px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 320px;" /></a> <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The movement grew from there to include Adventure Playgrounds for children with different abilities and the concept of Adventure Playgrounds spread throughout Europe, most particularly to Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France and Germany. The first playgrounds in Switzerland opened in 1955 and in Germany in 1967. Currently in Germany, there are some 400 adventure playgrounds, Japan has a significant number, and there are 80 in the <a href="http://www.londonplay.org.uk/document.php?document_id=40">city of London</a> alone.<br />
<br />
While London does contain many Adventure Playgrounds, most of them describe their play areas as within the “adventure” framework, but do not have dedicated staff and therefore follow the model of lower risk and fewer opportunities for children to design their own spaces. Many of these playgrounds and parks are extremely popular and over the years I have been making the rounds with my children to see how successful they are in person.<br />
<br />
One approach that Adventure Playgrounds have adopted is to provide a dramatic theme that children can use to organize their play and create stories around. Three of this type that are very popular in western London are the <a href="http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington_gardens/diana_playground.cfm">Peter Pan</a> (Princess Diana Memorial Park) Park in Kensington Gardens, the exhibits for children at <a href="http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/visit-information/parents-survival-guide/index.htm">Kew Gardens</a>, and the children’s exhibits at the <a href="http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/london">London Wetlands Centre</a>. <br />
<br />
The Peter Pan Park includes a large boat, tepees, climbing structures, treasure chests and a water feature (only open in summer).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_j4d-wq6yus/Tl15jrkwJ6I/AAAAAAAAAF8/uxPwsnBQU80/s1600/3236579414_8da640be50_o.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646803161691727778" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_j4d-wq6yus/Tl15jrkwJ6I/AAAAAAAAAF8/uxPwsnBQU80/s320/3236579414_8da640be50_o.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Children of all ages and families can be found in the park climbing and creating/acting out their own stories in these spaces. A sign at the entry mentions a staff member being present to enhance play, but I have never seen anyone there. When we first moved to London the ship included a net that kids could climb up to get to the watch tower, but this was removed by my next visit. The strength of this park is the strong narrative build around a familiar story that children can use to base as a framework for their play.<br />
<br />
Kew Gardens has several areas for full body play for children. The two main outdoor areas are the Badger Sett and the Treehouse Towers outdoor play area.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646803621193914546" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dk6f_OUzYEw/Tl15-bWnGLI/AAAAAAAAAGE/FXJ77_kB1zs/s320/DSC06158.JPG" style="float: left; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 240px;" /><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O_zy88m1sSg/Tl16aeHxaKI/AAAAAAAAAGM/fZSzpm6MAZo/s1600/DSC09575.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646804102973319330" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O_zy88m1sSg/Tl16aeHxaKI/AAAAAAAAAGM/fZSzpm6MAZo/s320/DSC09575.JPG" style="float: left; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 214px;" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Badger Sett offers children the opportunity to crawl around an oversized badger nest and explore underground. Throughout the tunnels are speaking tubes, small interpretive elements about how badgers live, and light shafts to above ground. My children usually spend at least an hour here making friends with other children, inventing some group story and running through the tunnels.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_8Qt-dTGx10/Tl16x0qbj8I/AAAAAAAAAGU/JoKZhQb4QBU/s1600/DSC06157.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646804504161259458" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_8Qt-dTGx10/Tl16x0qbj8I/AAAAAAAAAGU/JoKZhQb4QBU/s320/DSC06157.JPG" style="float: left; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 320px;" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Treehouse Towers exhibit is a more traditional type of playground with the use of natural materials so that children are climbing and using real wood on their adventures.<br />
<br />
This area is extremely popular and has a few elements that are novel, such as a zip line and large basket-like swings made of recycled materials that multiple children can use at once.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2wZI8uRd8Bk/Tl17ONLsfsI/AAAAAAAAAGc/P4jPm7_n4U4/s1600/DSC09447.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646804991779569346" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2wZI8uRd8Bk/Tl17ONLsfsI/AAAAAAAAAGc/P4jPm7_n4U4/s320/DSC09447.JPG" style="float: left; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 214px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cDsbB8_C5AU/Tl17ktKYm-I/AAAAAAAAAGk/af1M_r2ke78/s1600/DSC09586.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646805378321128418" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cDsbB8_C5AU/Tl17ktKYm-I/AAAAAAAAAGk/af1M_r2ke78/s320/DSC09586.JPG" style="float: left; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 214px;" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The London Wetlands Centre also contains several areas for kids to play and does a wonderful job of including beautiful landscaping with outdoor elements that children can play on. Their outdoor play area includes traversing walls, two outdoor water features, large swings and a zip wire with a launcher, which allows kids to go faster than on many zip lines.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X6rII5-UH38/Tl18j0tmCbI/AAAAAAAAAG0/08uGnwTJFRY/s1600/DSC09656.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646806462679615922" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X6rII5-UH38/Tl18j0tmCbI/AAAAAAAAAG0/08uGnwTJFRY/s320/DSC09656.JPG" style="float: left; height: 214px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 320px;" /></a> <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zTY9uTfcfLI/Tl19JhULeRI/AAAAAAAAAG8/shyXUt8_i7M/s1600/DSC07250.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646807110307772690" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zTY9uTfcfLI/Tl19JhULeRI/AAAAAAAAAG8/shyXUt8_i7M/s320/DSC07250.JPG" style="float: left; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 240px;" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
General Playgrounds:<br />
London is a city with a large amount of public green space and most parks contain playground areas for children. Many of them do not differ from those in the United States, but some elements are more unique.<br />
<br />
Many playgrounds in Europe contain play equipment that spins (these have been removed from most in America) and climbing features that allow kids to get quite high. The style of play equipment in Europe has a more modernistic style, but is also being widely adopted here in the United States.<br />
<br />
Some parks are attempting to create a hybrid and create some narrative as well as try to adapt the play equipment to be place-based and reflect the park’s unique surroundings. One such park is the new Northola Park in Ealing, which includes several small play spaces (one like a ship) and a larger play area. Surround the play areas are climbing mounds build above industrial waste sites and the large play area has small mounds that reflect the larger mounds for small children and adults who may not be able to climb the large mounds.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-QNlHiiMOY/Tl19hGJI6EI/AAAAAAAAAHE/tH1LMgR_aaE/s1600/DSC09036.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646807515330570306" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-QNlHiiMOY/Tl19hGJI6EI/AAAAAAAAAHE/tH1LMgR_aaE/s320/DSC09036.JPG" style="float: left; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 320px;" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
There continues to be great interest in providing exceptional nature and outdoor play environments for children and families. In current events, a free <a href="http://www.facebook.com/PlayCoreNews">Nature and Play Symposium</a> will be taking place in Austin Texas on September 1st for those interested in pursuing outdoor play further. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-58870689669902271642011-08-16T03:11:00.000-07:002011-08-16T03:30:05.142-07:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Adventure Playgrounds: An Introduction</span>
<br />Part 1 in a 3 part series
<br />
<br />Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London; Maeryta Medrano, AIA LEED AP, President of Gyroscope, Inc; Chuck Howarth, VP, Gyroscope, Inc.
<br />
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7DImP3fhYE/TkpCqJxgvyI/AAAAAAAAAFk/Esu4WpeglaI/s1600/slade.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7DImP3fhYE/TkpCqJxgvyI/AAAAAAAAAFk/Esu4WpeglaI/s320/slade.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641394775180492578" /></a>
<br />
<br />Museums, zoos, botanic gardens, playgrounds and parks within the United States have been observing and learning from our neighbors abroad about how to maximize the benefits of outdoor play environments for children and families. It is always a challenge to balance safety, maintenance, and general staffing while also providing child-led learning and creativity that natural environments can provide.
<br />
<br />As human beings, we intuitively seek connection to the natural world and some have described this connection as “biophilia.” The term was originally used by Erich Fromm to describe being attracted to all that is alive and vital. Naturalist Edward O. Wilson suggested that biophilia is the connection that all human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life and he proposed the possibility that the deep affiliations humans have with nature are rooted in our biology. <a href="http://www.howardgardner.com/index.html">Howard Gardner</a> recognized the important of this connection and added “naturalistic” intelligence (having to do with nurturing and relating to one’s natural surroundings) to the now nine types of intelligence modalities included in his <a href="http://www.howardgardner.com/MI/mi.html">Frames of Mind</a> framework.
<br />
<br />When thinking about designing outdoor play environments for children, many American organizations have been inspired by the Adventure Playground movement that began in Europe in the 1940s. Inspired by the realization that children are currently growing up in over-scheduled, highly supervised and sanitized world that frequently keeps the natural world at a distance, a growing number of organizations (including schools and parks) are moving toward free play, natural environments.
<br />
<br />Where it was once commonplace that kids got muddy at the edge of a pond, or skinned a knee on an old oak tree, children today have extremely limited access to wild, natural environments. In fact, in many neighborhoods, children are not allowed to explore, build forts, follow a creek, or even climb a tree due to development, covenants, zoning, liability issues, and fears of lurking danger. This lack of free exploration in the natural world cuts them off from their own adventures, narratives and discoveries. It also prevents them from learning their own boundaries, managing risk, navigating with their peer group, and utilization of their inherent creativity.
<br />
<br />How has the movement away from unsupervised outdoor play affected children? A number of studies point to the rise in obesity, the increased use of medication for children’s behavioral problems, high blood pressure and other physical and emotional health issues that have grown over the same period of time that outdoor play has decreased. But what researchers are finding is that there is growing evidence that access to the outdoors provides important and significant benefits for children (and adults).
<br />
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XAxNBTRSg7c/TkpFbrezIoI/AAAAAAAAAFs/X4tbtKoXJYA/s1600/outside.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 270px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XAxNBTRSg7c/TkpFbrezIoI/AAAAAAAAAFs/X4tbtKoXJYA/s320/outside.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641397825065656962" /></a>
<br />
<br />In Richard Louv’s book, <a href="http://richardlouv.com/books/last-child/">Last Child in the Woods</a>, there are a number of compelling statistics and studies that support this theory. When children interact with the natural world, they build their problem-solving and creative skills, learn to work with others, and gain confidence in their own abilities. What’s more, they gain a sense of ownership and mastery of their space, a sense of belonging-this is MY space. Children are natural explorers. All they need is opportunity.
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-26236218418822211962011-04-21T09:51:00.000-07:002011-04-21T11:09:16.953-07:00CELEBRATE EARTH DAY! Science-Based Approach for Selecting Green Products<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eRcM_7MQmlc/TbBxtPmQTeI/AAAAAAAAAAc/hOTfJ57uP0o/s1600/BEES%2BDiagram.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eRcM_7MQmlc/TbBxtPmQTeI/AAAAAAAAAAc/hOTfJ57uP0o/s320/BEES%2BDiagram.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598099358916562402" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />HAPPY EARTH DAY!</span> </div><div style="font-family: lucida grande; text-align: justify;">I am following up on Scott's post last week about Sustainability to let other museum professionals and designers know about new online software called BEES that helps you select green products. I'm asked all the time if there is a 'certified' green products list and the truth is, there is none. There are lots of different lists and standards, as well as just plain old marketing claims. But this software tool, developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology can help.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="font-family: lucida grande; text-align: justify;">Years ago, one of our first clients was the California Energy Commission who first told us about the BEES software. At the time, it was in Beta testing and only for Windows users. It was not user friendly at all. Now, this version is for Mac platforms too and it's FREE!<br /><br />BEES uses a science-based approach to evaluate environmentally-preferred building products including performance data and cost factors. It uses a life-cycle assessment approach and all stages are analyzed: raw material acquisition, manufacture, transportation, installation, use, and recycling and waste management.<br /><br />Economic performance is measured using ASTM <a href="http://www.astm.org/">http://www.astm.org/</a> standard life-cycle cost method, which covers initial investment, replacement, operation, maintenance and repair, and disposal. The software then combines environmental and economic performance into an overall score. Here is the link to BEES software <a href="http://www.nist.gov/el/economics/BEESSoftware.cfm">http://www.nist.gov/el/economics/BEESSoftware.cfm</a><br /><br />So the next time you are evaluating so-called 'green products' for your museum project, you might want to check this out. ENJOY THE EARTH EVERY DAY!<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Maeryta Medrano, AIA , LEED AP, Presidenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02799603259522452715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-15597299280669935392011-04-15T13:12:00.000-07:002011-10-18T15:49:31.914-07:00Sustainable Design is Good Design<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">by Scott Moulton</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IiRT0gQ0LS0/TaijVuyhLJI/AAAAAAAAAHk/8CYgreh5Qc4/s1600/IMG_1030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IiRT0gQ0LS0/TaijVuyhLJI/AAAAAAAAAHk/8CYgreh5Qc4/s400/IMG_1030.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">I had the pleasure of attending the second professional advisor meeting for the <a href="http://museums-now.blogspot.com/search?q=omsi+symposium">OMSI’s sustainability project</a> last week. The meeting was a chance to see what they had been up to for the last year and review prototypes of 6 exhibits, 2 cell phone stories and the green exhibit checklist. Over the course 2 days of meetings with these dedicated, engaging and insightful people a few key points stuck out for me.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><b>The 3 pillars is can lead to a transformative approach</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">OMSI has chosen <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability">define sustainability</a> using the 3 pillars (economy, environment and equality). This is a common approach to sustainable development but design typically focuses on environmental impact and specifically on material choices. Economy is not commonly recognized as a key part of sustainable design but it is absolutely vital and I hope that it becomes a more valued measure. Equality is a challenging value that at first seem a tough fit in thinking about exhibit development and design. Ben Fleskes, Director of Production, consistently pulls in this social dimension by providing good working conditions as well pulling people from the community to work on the design and production of the exhibits. The goal of this approach is to engage the community, provide job training and skills and make the museum a more interesting place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>Sustainable Design is Good Design</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hQ2xLOhuuRU/TaiiQSVp3lI/AAAAAAAAAHg/xoZL1p_aSys/s1600/IMG_1029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><span style="color: black;">We were asked to come up with what would be best practices for sustainable development and design and I am happy to report that they look a lot like what I call good design. The overriding principles included: Be process focused, set clear goals, make sure things are going as planned, include your community, design for the capacity of your client or institution, think about what you are designing from multiple perspectives, the perfect is the enemy of the good, check yourself and celebrate success. Sustainability can be a powerful framework to help make decisions that lead to good development and design.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hQ2xLOhuuRU/TaiiQSVp3lI/AAAAAAAAAHg/xoZL1p_aSys/s1600/IMG_1029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hQ2xLOhuuRU/TaiiQSVp3lI/AAAAAAAAAHg/xoZL1p_aSys/s400/IMG_1029.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"><b>The Power of the Prototype</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">There is no better way to have the necessary insights and find your blind spots than to stand in front of a prototype. Our own Maria Mortati has written on this and even organized an exhibit on it <a href="http://stores.lulu.com/mortati">here</a>. You may say this is just good design and it is, but prototyping will result in fewer exhibits that miss the mark, require remediation or end up worthless and that has a greater impact than using any green material.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Scott Moultonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17218827744349933489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-20967795591007443772011-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:002011-03-23T11:23:04.929-07:00British Libraries Case Study: Can Museums with shrinking budgets learn from Library Advocacy Efforts?<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London</span></div><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WW8l8PrbCeg/TYD9B_7XhKI/AAAAAAAAAEg/zze77NgqMS8/s1600/_50827533_library2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584741748721550498" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WW8l8PrbCeg/TYD9B_7XhKI/AAAAAAAAAEg/zze77NgqMS8/s320/_50827533_library2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 171px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 304px;" /></a> <br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Government cuts in the United Kingdom are beginning to hit the arts but other areas within the public sector are also taking a beating. In London, many neighborhoods are losing libraries: Croyton will lose six libraries, Barking and Deganham will lose five, and Hounslow, the borough next to mine, will lose eight. Libraries scheduled for closure are not necessarily the least used and many of these libraries serve upwards of 50,000 visits annually. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For many Londoners (myself included), this is a catastrophe. But some communities have not been taking the news without a fight. When they learned of their libraries plan to close, The friends of Stony Stratford Library in Milton Keynes started a campaign to show how important the library was to the community. Called “Wot no books?” their grassroots efforts started with a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=183001821722335&topic=295">Facebook</a> and email call from a community member asking everyone she knew to take out the maximum number of books allowed on their card (usually 15) with the goal of emptying the library of all its resources by the end of January. The librarians supported to campaign and were please to be checking out up to 380 books an hour, although they admit that re-shelving when the books are returned will be a challenge. The librarians even arranged that the last book checked out would be Mary Norton’s The Borrowers. The community succeeded and shelves were emptied and have now had a really thorough cleaning.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BacqUHGOfsk/TYD-VtOQcLI/AAAAAAAAAEo/-3WmqvdnBjI/s1600/stony_stratford_library_pa.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584743186809516210" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BacqUHGOfsk/TYD-VtOQcLI/AAAAAAAAAEo/-3WmqvdnBjI/s320/stony_stratford_library_pa.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 180px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a></span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The story has been picked up by press all over the world including the United States, Australia and New Zealand and is being replicated by libraries throughout the United Kingdom. The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12204369">BBC covered</a> the story in the UK and <a href="http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Buckinghamshire/Milton-Keynes/MK11/News/Local-News/185205-Save-Stony-Stratford-Library-Campaign-Goes-International">flyers</a> were made available for those who wanted to support the effort.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The current economy puts libraries and museums in the position of articulating and evaluating their worth to the community and supporting or launching campaigns to keep or raise public and private funding. But how deep is the problem and it is uniform across institutions? How are libraries measuring their impact within their communities and how organized are their communication efforts?</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Answering these questions has been a challenge as it has not been clearly articulated how the decision was made about which London libraries to close. In speaking with the senior librarian at the main branch of the Ealing Library (my main library), she explained that she has not yet heard about how cuts will affect our individual libraries. She expects that the leaders at the Borough level will be making the decisions and that these will be pushed down with little input from the community or libraries effected. A review of library services has been announced, looking at buildings and services to search for savings. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ealing seems to have fared better than most boroughs with no closures to date. Cuts made thus far have been in personnel with open positions frozen and not filled. The senior librarian was hesitant to discuss it further because she explained that the Council is very strict about messaging and librarians are not encouraged to give their opinions.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All the same, the Ealing Libraries are doing what they can to show how the community values their services. Sponsored by the Campaign for the Book and the Ealing Alliance for Public Services, a “Read-In” was held on a recent Saturday. Participants were encouraged to bring or borrow a favorite book and read in the library, participate in discussions about their favorite work and the importance of libraries, and show how much libraries are valued in the community. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is uncertain for both Ealing and Stony Stratford that any public display of support for the libraries will save them. Emily Malleson, the mother who started the “Wot, No Books?” campaign has said “We are still in a period of consultation on the library’s future. If 1,000 people sign the petition, the issue will automatically come up for discussion at a Milton Keynes council meeting. Despite the huge response, we don’t know what’s going to happen. We may not necessarily have made a difference.”</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Although it is unsure what the impact of these actions will have, there are several positive outcomes that have come as a result that can also work for advocacy efforts in Museums:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><ul style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">The community can voice their support of an organization through concrete actions, which decrease their feelings of helplessness and deepen their commitment to that organization.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">The network of friends for an organization can grow exponentially as the community galvanizes around a cause. As a result of the Stony Stratford campaign the library friends and Facebook groups now have hundreds of members.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Significant advocacy efforts can become big news stories, which can be used to show public support and make a case of the importance of public services to a community.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">An organization can gather statistics related to its importance in the community to use for further advocacy or fundraising efforts.</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As discussed in previous blog entries, museums and libraries are doing amazing and creative work in our communities. With cuts in public funding affecting everyone, the need for innovative partnerships between both types of institutions will only continue and force us to become equally creative about mobilizing our users to show and quantify their support.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-38388768445585094352011-03-10T15:58:00.000-08:002011-03-10T16:00:48.394-08:00"Beyond the Didactic" a CAM Conference session on social media<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Scott Moulton LEED AP</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am following up on my previous CAM post to talk about an interesting session I attended.</span><br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Beyond the Didactic - Engaging Visitors in a Social Media World." piqued my interest. The first panelist was Maria Gilbert from the <a href="http://www.getty.edu/museum/index.html">J. Paul Getty Museum</a>. At the Getty they participate in all the expected forms of social media but had a few interesting ways to use them to provide additional depth and engage the public. She showed how they are using Flickr to juxtapose master's work with visitor's work and show non Getty photos of historic sites to illustrate the context of a given artwork or artifact.</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sorel Denholtz is a Social Web Strategist who helped the <a href="http://www.calacademy.org/">Cal Academy</a> use social media to engage a new audience and drive attendance to their <a href="http://www.calacademy.org/events/nightlife/">Nightlife program</a>. These strategies were less about moving "beyond the didactic" and more about connecting to visitors and social marketing. Nightlife is a weekly event aimed at a 21 - 35 year old crowd and features science programing, DJ performances, and drinking all within the Cal Academy. They identified 6 visitors that would become <a href="http://www.calacademy.org/events/nightlife/insiders/forrester/">Nightlife Insiders</a> and were given free tickets and special treatment in exchange for regular Facebook posts. The relationship was totally transparent and it helped <a href="http://www.facebook.com/calacademy-nightlife">Nightlife FaceBook</a> page gather 19,000 fans (as compared to the 20,000 Cal Academy fans) and become a huge success.</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lisa Sasaki from <a href="http://www.janm.org/">The Japanese American National Museum</a> described how their institution was using thing like QR codes and Facebook to provide more depth to an exhibit and also to be relevant to a younger generation. She pointed out the value of having more than one voice on the museum's social media and reinforced the need to have the posts or tweets adapted to fit the different platforms.</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I left feeling excited by the ways these institutions were using social media but was a bit disappointed to see that these online resources were impossible to find in the case of the Getty, and not very heavily used in the case of JANM. The NightLife Facebook page was impressive in terms of the level of activity on the site and the way they are making themselves relevant to a traditionally hard to reach audience. It will be interesting to see if other institutions can use this social marketing approach as effectively to connect to specific audiences.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Scott Moultonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17218827744349933489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-55118568591109642842011-03-08T14:38:00.000-08:002011-03-23T11:32:22.322-07:002011 CAM Conference<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Scott Moulton, LEED AP</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Ron Davis, Elena Merlino and I took a trip to Pasadena for the <a href="http://www.calmuseums.org/">California Association of Museums</a> conference last week. This year the <a href="http://www.calmuseums.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewpage&pageid=704">conference</a> had 486 attendees from a wide range of California Museums. It was a great opportunity to talk with this diverse group ranged from a single room schoolhouse museum, the Reagan Library, the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero, to The California Academy of Science. The one thing that impressed me in all my conversations was the passion and unique interests of this group of museum professionals.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U416whY0PKw/TXamZDK9_kI/AAAAAAAAAHc/ZAUGbYRTgT0/s1600/196070_10150437435015525_10150092979620525_17684135_3893886_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U416whY0PKw/TXamZDK9_kI/AAAAAAAAAHc/ZAUGbYRTgT0/s400/196070_10150437435015525_10150092979620525_17684135_3893886_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Conversation at the opening event (photo: California Association of Museums)</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span">In addition to the conference we had a chance to visit a few local museums. One highlight was out trip to <a href="http://www.kidspacemuseum.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index">kidspace</a>. The museum is a series of small buildings linked by outdoor exhibit spaces. This arrangement is similar to the <a href="http://www.gyroscopeinc.com/bayAreaDiscovery.html">Bay Area Discovery Museum</a> and I have to say it is a great way to organize a Children's Museum (especially in a place with weather as nice as Pasadena.) A few highlights at kidspace were the 2 large indoor climbers, the Nature Exchange, and the Interpretive Arroyo which is integrated into the adjacent hillside and garden. Of all the exhibits it was <a href="http://www.kidspacemuseum.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pe_out_trike">Trike Tracks</a> that got us the most excited. The exhibit is as simple as a stamped concrete path that defines a road, a few road signs, a variety of trikes, and helmets for the kids. As you can imagine all sorts of fun emerges as kids (and exhibit designers) race and negotiate the course. </span></div><div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AQB9pguX8Mo/TXakB8eRV0I/AAAAAAAAAHY/GGyqD420NdE/s1600/IMG_0861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AQB9pguX8Mo/TXakB8eRV0I/AAAAAAAAAHY/GGyqD420NdE/s400/IMG_0861.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">The entrance to the museum leads to an indoor / outdoor space</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-044o5UwET1k/TXaj9iX3rZI/AAAAAAAAAHU/dOFbwURoxBw/s1600/IMG_0949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-044o5UwET1k/TXaj9iX3rZI/AAAAAAAAAHU/dOFbwURoxBw/s400/IMG_0949.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">The stream is nicely integrated into the hillside and garden. Note that they offer places to sit and enjoy it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T5LqMpVITC0/TXaj6uGGAJI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/x9afD_potPA/s1600/IMG_0933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T5LqMpVITC0/TXaj6uGGAJI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/x9afD_potPA/s400/IMG_0933.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">Lookout!!! Gyroscope exhibit designer Elena Merlino breaks all the rules by riding the wrong way without a helmet .</div><div><br />
</div></span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Scott Moultonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17218827744349933489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-50254303459480024732011-03-02T10:52:00.000-08:002011-03-02T11:38:30.414-08:00The Convergence of Museums and Libraries<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Maeryta Medrano, AIA LEED AP, President, Gyroscope, Inc.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />I've been interested in the convergence of museums and libraries since my grad school days at UC Berkeley. Some of the greatest examples can be found in Greek and Roman architecture where a museum and library were almost always paired together, often in conjunction with the forum, marketplace, and bath houses. These public places functioned together as the hub of civic life and a community gathering place.</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Libraries, according to this article are seeing significant growth over the last few years, even though digitization has been replacing physical books. This statistic from the article is telling- "from 2002 to 2008 their ranks rebounded astonishingly, rising 7 percent among adults and 9 percent, the biggest growth, among teens, according to the National Endowment for the Arts. Moreover, public libraries in the United States have seen record usage, up 23 percent between 2006 and 2009, according to the American Library Association (ALA), partly due to the job-seeking resources they offer. So the future of libraries in a computerized world is potentially bright."<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Some libraries, such as our client in Rancho Cucamonga, have taken it one step further by offering a place to record oral histories and activities </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">for young children </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">within the stacks. I know if my local library had these amenities, my family would take advantage of them and spend even more time there. As it is, we go almost every Saturday morning to check out books, videos, and sometimes magazines.<br /><br />This summer, while in London on business, I spent hours at the British Library where I not only checked out a cool exhibit on maps, but also had an excellent lunch. Situated not too far from the stacks at a comfy couch with free wi-fi access, I emailed design ideas back to the office while enjoying a latte and a delicious chocolate torte. What's not to like? </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> I'm hoping other libraries will pick up on the trend to include more programming, amenities, food, coffee and comfortable seating. </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I would argue this trend is important for museums as well. Although many do offer some visitor amenities, the right mix of programming, technology, books, cool architecture and great coffee is a sure way to make patrons feel comfortable and engaged.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">See the article below for the full story and reader’s comments.</span><br /><a href="http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/building_types_study/libraries/2011/Libraries-Intro.asp"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/building_types_study/libraries/2011/Libraries-Intro.asp</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Maeryta Medrano, AIA , LEED AP, Presidenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02799603259522452715noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-46917221646224778502011-02-27T08:50:00.000-08:002011-02-27T09:19:20.930-08:00Speak Up For MuseumsTuesday, March 1 is Speak Up For Museums day in Washington, DC. This year more than ever it is essential that we all help AAM get the word out about the value that museums bring to our communities and our nation. Whether you can be there in person or not, there are lots of ways to help, but time is short. We encourage all of our friends and colleagues to visit AAM's web link for details about what you can do. Let's make our voices heard. Here's the link: www.speakupformuseums.org.<div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Chuck Howarthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422235777203487731noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-38069207645905744892011-02-25T11:19:00.000-08:002011-02-25T11:22:13.602-08:00Congratulations, Justine<style>@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Cambria;">Two roads diverged, as Robert Frost once wrote.<span style=""> </span>And so it is now for Gyroscope.<span style=""> </span>Our longtime colleague and friend Justine Roberts has come to a crossroads and will be moving on to an exciting new assignment as director of the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire.<span style=""> </span>Justine has been with Gyroscope for…. well, let’s not count the years.<span style=""> </span>Let’s just say that we have grown up together as museum professionals and as a firm.<span style=""> </span>The Children’s Museum could hardly have made a better choice.<span style=""> </span>Justine is a natural leader, a leading advocate for early childhood education, and deeply knowledgeable about museums and how they work.<span style=""> </span>She will still assist Gyroscope from time to time as a senior advisor.<span style=""> </span>We will miss her greatly, and wish her all the best with her new assignment. <br /><br />Chuck Howarth and Maeryta Medrano<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Chuck Howarthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17422235777203487731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-58897812890043456922011-02-10T12:21:00.000-08:002011-02-10T12:21:21.991-08:00We've Come A Long Way, Baby<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Justine Roberts, Principal</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have been going through old papers, as I occasionally do, and came across an internal memo from 2006 discussing museum use of emerging technology. Its really a summary of research we were doing at the time to see what was starting to trend, and what might have staying power. Of course, technology has changed since then and the ways museums are using it has too. But in the day-to-day its easy to lose track of how far we have come. Most of the talk is about how far we still need to go. And fair enough - the world doesn't stand still around us and it can seem like no matter how fast we move we can't keep up. But its also useful to take a minute and reflect on what has changed, and how much more nimble we are compared with 5 years ago. After all, in the lifespan of technology 5 years is old age. And also to appreciate the continuity of issues despite this rapidly changing external environment.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So jump into the time machine with me and travel back to 2006. A few important projects were just starting to be recognized as breaking new ground:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first was launched by renegade media teacher </span><a href="http://www.technologycouncil.com/2009/01/24/david-gilbert-bio-griffin-technology/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">David Gilbert </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">from </span><a href="http://www.mmm.edu/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Marymount Manhatten College </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">who had just created </span><a href="http://mod.blogs.com/art_mobs/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Artmobs</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, almost by accident. It started as a class project in how to use ipod technology by producing reviews of artworks at </span><a href="http://www.moma.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">MOMA</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. In the end </span><a href="http://mod.blogs.com/art_mobs/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Artmobs</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> published "tours" produced by the general public, and made them available for download via itunes. In April 2006 they were getting thousands of hits a week on their site. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">David Gilbert described </span><a href="http://mod.blogs.com/art_mobs/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Artmobs</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> as "a way for anyone to curate their own little corner of MOMA." And what was so revolutionary about this project was that even after it was established, no one really understood how you could make and distribute audio tours without institutional approval. This was a breakthrough which forced the question of audience participation and collaboration. In this case, technology really led the way on social change.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Very quickly </span><a href="http://www.sfmoma.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">SFMOMA</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> realized the potential of producing material for the ipod and tweaked Gilbert's idea into an open call competition for high quality podcasts. These were more official guides than what Artmobs did because they had to meet certain criteria, had much more polish, and overall higher production values. But they were still visitor contributed. Today we would say "crowdsourced". Winning entries were selected by a jury and were featured in monthly </span><a href="http://www.sfmoma.org/pages/podcasts"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">SFMOMA Artcast </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">installments. The winner also received a one-year membership to SFMOMA.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">SFMOMA also produced their own podcasts working with </span><a href="http://www.antennaaudio.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Antenna Audio</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and visitors who had one of these on their ipod could get a discount on admissions.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At the same time, technology innovators were already working on projects from outside museums.</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.guidebycell.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Guide by Cell </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">was producing audio guides for cell phones, and had already determined that cell phones were not the best technology to use in hands-on museum settings like the </span><a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Exploratorium</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. </span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.lsc.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Liberty Science Center</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> was also in the process of launching a phone and mp3 audio tour which would allow visitors to call into a phone number printed on labels in one gallery to hear more detailed information about the exhibit.</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ideum.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ideum</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> was already making ipod </span><a href="http://www.ideum.com/blog/2006/03/23/museum-vodcasting/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Vodcasts</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> which plays video on the screen on an ipod, or on your computer through itunes.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And those </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">flash mobs</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">? Well they had already been invented also, just under a different name. A company called </span><a href="http://www.improveverywhere.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Improv Everywhere </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">("we cause scenes") was a serious and very silly organization which had already sponsored 50 events between 2001 and 2006. These included a hilarious </span><a href="http://improveverywhere.com/2004/07/.../synchronized-swimming/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">synchronized swimming in Washington Square Park</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> event (the water is 6" deep) and another where people were invited to download </span><a href="http://improveverywhere.com/2005/10/19/zombie-dance/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Michael Jackson's Thriller to their ipod, then hang out anonymously in Central Park in NYC until noon</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. At the sound of a klaxon everyone was supposed to start the soundtrack and start walking like a zombie. Over 200 people participated. The only problem was the music was silent but imagine if you had been there what you would have thought! </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In every case the assumption was to rely on visitors' own devices. There was a sense that the technology visitors were carrying in their pockets were the right platforms to be delivering content on - the beginning of a shift away from those audio tour wands and toward acceptance of people seemingly on the phone in the Museum. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The big questions of what content, by whom, and how it interacts with the exhibits are the same questions we are asking today. Ipods were, at the time, uniquely portable devices and that made them particularly attractive. The landscape has become more diverse and advances in technology make it possible to download content at the Museum, or for visitors to share content with other visitors in a way we couldn't 5 years ago. So if anything it is more complex to answer these questions today than it used to be. </span><a href="http://www.exhibitfiles.org/peter_samis"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Peter Samis</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.archimuse.com/mw2009/bios/au_400013205.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Stephanie Pau</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.archimuse.com/mw2006/papers/samis/samis.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">wrote a paper at the time exploring their Artcast series as a case study </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">and their analysis still resonates.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here are some of the issues we flagged as important at the time. All of which are still at the core of successful media integration today:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Podcasts can be automatically updated via an aggregator so the power of this is as a subscription based relationship rather than just a one-time download.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Technology is driving visitors' expectations about inclusion of multiple voices (including their own) and an ability to customize museum experiences.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The relationship between museums and their audience goes in both directions - from the Museum out to the visitor, and from the visitor in to the Museum.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The voice of our communication with audiences is changing - less formal and more discussion-oriented, more diverse and inclusive - but what does this mean for production values? This question is relevant to physical exhibits as well as digital elements.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Podcasting, like audio tours, are not likely to be major revenue generators.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">How do you support older technology and still make your content work on the most up-to-date devices?</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So much has changed but the core questions are the same. As Samis writes in the case study on the SFMOMA project "iPods are a vector for injecting art ideas into the daily lives of people at home or on-the-go. The opposite is also true: iPods are a way of bringing voices from the community into the Museum." </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Replace "iPod" with any other technology channel we have access to today and the thought still resonates.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-66233124931882159992011-01-28T05:58:00.000-08:002011-01-28T05:58:55.002-08:00Parent Communication Strategies<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Justine Roberts, Principal</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">I
wrote recently about <a href="http://museums-now.blogspot.com/2011/01/following-visitor-home.html">how some museums are using technology to extend their relationships with constituents beyond the space and time of a visit. </a>This is a
strategy in service of a bigger goal, which has to do with positioning the
museum as an ongoing resource for its audience – not just a place </span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">to go</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">
but a trusted advisor, friend, and information base. This is a big strategic idea, and one that holds a lot of
appeal. On the one hand, it
differentiates museums fro<a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm">m the leisure time activities</a> we often think of as
their natural competition – <a href="http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/reading-tv-watching-favorite-leisure-activities-but-declining-2465/harris-poll-us-leisure-time-activitiesjpg/">city parks and playgrounds, the movies, music lessons, computer games, play groups etc</a>. On the
other, it differentiates museums from <a href="http://www.niost.org/">out of school time </a>and social service
organizations like the <a href="http://www.ymca.net/">YMCA</a> and <a href="http://www.bgca.org/">Boys and Girls Clubs</a>. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This
is not a new idea – <a href="http://www.bostonkids.org/">The Boston Children’s Museum</a> has always spent a lot of time
and care on community relationships.
Take for example programs like <a href="http://ww.countdowntokindergarten.org/">Countdown to Kindergarten</a> which is as
much about creating an activity for local families to celebrate a major life
transition (kindgergarten), as it is about weaving the Museum into the fabric
of the learning community (see their success in bringing <a href="http://www.bpl.org/kids/booklists/countdown.htm">the Mayor and Superintendent of Schools</a> together, literally). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">BCM is actually a good segue for what I’m thinking about which is that adults are
one of the key audiences for these on-going relationships with Children's Museums in particular. As a field we increasingly understand
that there are good reasons to move adults to more involved roles with their
kids. <a href="http://www.fi.edu/case/projects.html"> Research has shown that adult participation leads to deeper inquiry and more durable learning for children, while at the same time enhancing adults’ understanding of and ability to support children’s informal science learning</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">But
let’s be honest - adults come to museums for many reasons, including taking a
break and socializing with peers, and have <a href="http://online.rit.edu/faculty/teaching_strategies/adult_learners.cfm">their own learning styles</a>.
So I am really intrigued by the idea that museums can develop umbrella
relationships with adults in which the moment of the visit is one touch point
among many opportunities to engage with the organization. This might give us more room to allow that
the visit may not always be the best moment to reach adults, but it also suggests that that’s okay because we have many
more opportunities to connect with those adults. We don’t have to pack it all into 2 hours on a Saturday.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">How about these as goals for adults?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Help adult visitors understand their
possible roles, and responsibilities, in the museum setting<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Scaffold adults’ learning<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Show caregivers what their children are
doing, but also how and why they behave in particular ways<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Help staff and visitors understand and
share the ways children construct knowledge</span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The key to achieving
these goals is to increase adults’ understanding of the museum as about </span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">learning</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">To do this, museums
need to accomplish three main things (1) make children’s learning evident, (2)
offer adults opportunities to participate in children’s learning, and (3) give
adults tools they can use to enhance children’s learning. Some of these may lend themselves more
to implementation in the exhibits but all of them can happen off-site as well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">What should parent communications sound and
look like?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Parent message need to be a mix of didactic, intimate and informal
communications. Some parent communication will be explicit for adults who are
interested in learning why the museum looks the way it does, and what their
kids are getting out of the visit.
These “decoders” may take the form of maps, labels and graphics in the
galleries, “parent guides” and questionnaires, or verbal communication through
staff interaction. <o:p></o:p></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans'; font-size: x-small;">Other communication is more discursive and needs to be structured so that adults can make connections between the messages and their children’s behavior.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans'; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans'; font-size: x-small;">Here are 3 examples of how this might translate into graphics.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TUGi3YcW_GI/AAAAAAAAAKs/o4pRO_AwsxE/s1600/MCM-Play-card.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TUGi3YcW_GI/AAAAAAAAAKs/o4pRO_AwsxE/s320/MCM-Play-card.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Staff at MCM carry these cards.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TUGhLNy366I/AAAAAAAAAKo/uG_96kW52uc/s1600/ProjectedLabel+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TUGhLNy366I/AAAAAAAAAKo/uG_96kW52uc/s320/ProjectedLabel+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Pittsburgh Children's Museum projected graphics are in adults' immediate line of sight and provide a quick prompt.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TUGllft3o0I/AAAAAAAAAKw/8hxrZxwpfBc/s1600/3.7.A-C-E+Vert+Exemplars-1-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TUGllft3o0I/AAAAAAAAAKw/8hxrZxwpfBc/s320/3.7.A-C-E+Vert+Exemplars-1-3.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">An "exemplar" graphic from Skyline at CCM features photos of real visitors and first person quotes - the graphics stand in for staff by modeling adult roles in the gallery.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Strategies for use in the Museum</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans'; font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">These three examples of actual printed graphics get at some of the key strategies for adult communications during the museum visit. They are designed to</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> help adults see what their kids are doing and learning. And they offer interpretation and explanation of the Museum's philosophy and intentions.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">There are other strategies museums can use to facilitate adult outcomes including:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Engage adults in collaborative work with
their children and offer multiple possible roles for adults throughout the
museum so that sometimes they are leading and other times they are
supporting the primary inquiry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Train staff to articulate children’s
learning to model interactions that support the expression of learning. <o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Train staff to recognize adult learning in
the museum setting and in how to support adults in gaining confidence and
skill as partners in their children’s learning.</span></span><span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: x-small;">More specifically, museums can: </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">·</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans'; font-size: x-small;">Design for the diverse needs of the adult audience, including participatory activity, quiet observation, and socializing with other adults.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans'; font-size: x-small;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans'; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol;">·</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span>Offer
expert perspectives on informal science learning through partnerships with
researchers and teachers in training. Such as they do at <a href="http://web.mit.edu/eccl/partnerships.htm">MOS</a> and <a href="http://www.bostonkids.org/exhibits/playlab.html">BCM</a>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">·</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Offer
opportunities for adults to create documentation projects that facilitate
children’s reflection on their own activity. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">·</span><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Provide
ideas for how adults might continue the inquiry and projects started in the
Museum at home, and support visitors’ efforts to implement these suggestions
through web-based, newsletter, and other resources.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Extending communication with parents beyond the
visit<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This last point takes me to the off-site long-term relationship piece. One tenet of museum
education is that a visit will continue to resonate in people’s lives long
after they leave. Being a place to go when museum users have follow-up
questions or comments is a piece of the way museums can extend their work
beyond the walls of the building. This support also allows adults to articulate and reflect on
the connections they make between their lives and their Museum visit. Following
are some ideas that are tuned to adults - easy to access, relevant, and helpful, fun, playful and participatory. So bridging this need with the right set of materials is a win-win.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Have an “Ask an Expert” email system that
puts adults in touch with education and child development Graduate
Students<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Set up an email newsletter with a monthly
Hot Tip that goes to visitors’ email, is displayed on the museum's home page,
and is also included in the “hold” soundtrack on the phone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Create a screen saver that people can
download at home featuring images from around the Museum.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Create an interactive timeline that
encourages adults and children to talk about events in their lives and to
compare where they were and how they felt at those moments. The timeline might be seeded with
some starter ideas that span the generations and include both large global
events as well as local, personal experiences. Imagine <a href="http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Main_Page">The Mint Museum </a>interactive site framed this way.</span></span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Gill Sans';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">What has your museum tried? </span></span></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
</ol><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-54761824322194665902011-01-24T09:30:00.000-08:002011-01-24T09:30:51.681-08:00Time-lapse Video: From Birth To 10 Years Old<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Justine Roberts, Principal</span></i><br />
<br />
Normally I would post a video like this one on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gyroscope-Inc/304694954204">our facebook page </a>rather than into the blog but there is something so charming about this that I wanted to share it here as well. <br />
<br />
<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ejbNVWES4LI?fs=1&hl=en_US">
</param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true">
</param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">
</param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ejbNVWES4LI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
One of the issues for anyone working with children is being able to understand how they understand the world around them. It goes without saying that kids don't have the same perspective - much less the cognitive framework and technical knowledge - as adults. But it can be hard to hold the context in our own minds of what a child really means when they say or do a particular thing. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/emily-beckstrom/06/162/2">Emily Beckstrom</a>, who does museum evaluation and who worked on the <a href="http://www.gyroscopeinc.com/publications.html">Standards of Excellence </a>project as a graduate student at the<a href="http://www.erikson.edu/"> Erikson Institute</a>, once told me about a "continuum of questioning" which puts that <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/311200/turning_the_why_phase_into_a_learning.html?cat=25">phase of the constant "why?"</a> in a broader context of children's wondering and testing of the world and of our explanations. It was an important insight to see how kids' ability to formulate questions changes together with their persistence in finding answers, and their willingness to insist that adults help them.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
As a museum professional this video also fosters a sense of appreciation and awe for the process of growing. Each moment in this video is a reminder of the constant change, development, and increasing competence of children. Something that I think we need to hold in our minds as educators, social service workers, and mentors - all roles we take on daily in our field.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
This tension between remembering what the naif world view of children really is like and celebrating their achievements and capacities is at the heart of the experience we strive for in designing for families.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-31853210282627703732011-01-17T07:10:00.000-08:002011-01-17T07:10:03.728-08:00Great WebSpectations and other adventures in the digital and non-digital domains Part 1<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Janet Petitpas, Senior Associate, London</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yvJNMrRQr1c/TTQ3Wakv-DI/AAAAAAAAADI/FmVlJDH8XtA/s1600/v0_master.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="166" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563132297939515442" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yvJNMrRQr1c/TTQ3Wakv-DI/AAAAAAAAADI/FmVlJDH8XtA/s200/v0_master.jpg" style="float: left; height: 266px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 320px;" width="200" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
In thinking about interesting current happenings in museums here in the U.K., I noticed I was reading about museums using innovative social media and the internet to inspire participation and extend the museum experience. In particular an exhibition at the <a href="http://www.southwark.gov.uk/cumingmuseum">Cuming Museum</a> in South London appealed to me as someone who loves shoes. The Cuming Museum is currently hosting an exhibition called “<a href="http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200162/the_cuming_museum/1607/temporary_exhibitions/2">Stories of the World: Walking in my Shoes</a>,” funded by the <a href="http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/cultural-olympiad/index.php">Cultural Olympiad</a> project.<br />
<br />
The exhibition features shoes from around the world and the journeys we make in them. It features designs by area young people alongside displays of historic shoes from the Museum’s collection. The exhibition is augmented by a program in which young people in the Southwark neighborhood have been asked to send in photos of their own shoes and describe their everyday journeys.<br />
<br />
Also, the Museum is building up a map of the area, based on favorite places, routes, and methods of travel as well as favorite footwear. Visitors are invited to post photos of their favorite shoes to the exhibition’s <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/walkinginmyshoes">Flickr group</a>.<br />
<br />
In reading this description, I assumed that the journeys submitted and mapped would be done digitally and posted on the web, which I found quite interesting and was curious to see how museum visitors mapped a neighborhood. I searched around on-line, but was unable to find any maps in conjunction with the exhibition. Since I had never been to the Cuming Museum, I decided to go there in person to check it out and gather more information.<br />
<br />
The Cuming Museum is a small Museum located within the Old Walworth Town Hall. It features the collections of the Cuming family, who collected almost anything for over 100 years. In addition to their interesting and pleasantly jumbled collections (ranging from ethnographic and natural history objects - the collection includes both real and fake items), the Museum presents the history of the Southwark neighborhood all the way back to Roman times.<br />
<br />
The Museum’s permanent galleries show that great care has been taken to involve the current community, which includes many immigrants and houses people from all over the world. While the galleries were unstaffed, there were many opportunities for interaction with real objects, exploration sheets to pick up and fill out, areas for visitors to leave personal comments, and items you could make within the galleries.
The Shoes exhibition was located in the one room temporary exhibition hall.<br />
<br />
When I walked in and saw the map I actually laughed out loud at the difference between its physicality and my expectation that it would be digital.
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yvJNMrRQr1c/TTQ4XOUJj1I/AAAAAAAAADQ/Yj3jkL8hM-U/s1600/DSC08479.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563133411340160850" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yvJNMrRQr1c/TTQ4XOUJj1I/AAAAAAAAADQ/Yj3jkL8hM-U/s320/DSC08479.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a>
The map is a physical table top blow up of a Google map and visitors are provided with little Google map pink paper bubbles on which they write their favorite places in the neighborhood and then mount in Lucite photo clips. I loved concrete-ness of the map and appreciated the irony of the times we live in – that it would never occur to me that the map would be a three-dimensional object that sits in one spot on the planet. (Much less one inspired by the internet and made into a physical object!)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yvJNMrRQr1c/TTQ5_RP7iJI/AAAAAAAAADw/FuIKeI9Rkbo/s1600/DSC08483.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563135198834165906" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yvJNMrRQr1c/TTQ5_RP7iJI/AAAAAAAAADw/FuIKeI9Rkbo/s200/DSC08483.JPG" style="float: left; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 240px;" width="150" /></a></div>
The exhibition simple and well executed. One wall contained a display of shoes designed by neighborhood young people along with explanations about why they created their designs. The artists were identified by their shoes (not the ones they created but the ones they wear) and it appeared to me that the shoes they did create were done through Converse. If you are inspired, you can design your own shoes through the <a href="http://www.converse.com/#/products/shoes/converseone/builder/chuTayOxCan1010,,,,">Converse </a>website.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TTRbTOXGaOI/AAAAAAAAAKk/2Of-O4F-Jb4/s1600/Untitled-Image-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TTRbTOXGaOI/AAAAAAAAAKk/2Of-O4F-Jb4/s1600/Untitled-Image-2.jpg" /></a></div>
There were ample opportunities to participate by trying on shoes, contributing a graffiti map of how you came to the Museum that day, and of course, interesting displays from the Cuming shoe collection.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TTRbSmbwndI/AAAAAAAAAKg/FTKMohm9bZo/s1600/Untitled-Image-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TTRbSmbwndI/AAAAAAAAAKg/FTKMohm9bZo/s1600/Untitled-Image-1.jpg" /></a>The exhibition design was comprehensive and the exhibit furniture was all created out of stiff cardboard. A lovely and enjoyable exhibition, even if I wasn’t able to access people’s favorite neighborhood places and trips from the comfort of my home computer.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yvJNMrRQr1c/TTQ5N19VaZI/AAAAAAAAADg/p4Eqg-MnfNQ/s1600/DSC08480.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563134349694822802" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yvJNMrRQr1c/TTQ5N19VaZI/AAAAAAAAADg/p4Eqg-MnfNQ/s320/DSC08480.JPG" style="float: left; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Janet Petitpashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795704090297312512noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-68304307995228553842011-01-04T08:47:00.000-08:002011-01-04T08:47:47.196-08:00Following the Visitor Home<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Justine Roberts, Principal</span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Many museums have a goal of serving as a meaningful </span><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">resource</span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> for their communities. For the past few years we have been using the phrase "to follow the visitor home" as a way of describing the opportunity for museums to use digital tools to create ongoing relationships with visitors in service of this objective. And there have been a handful of interesting experiments with the idea of digital portfolio creation, visitor tracking, and customization strategies that we have been paying close attention to. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The key in my mind is not just using the web as a community platform - although if that were my criteria the </span><a href="http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Brooklyn Museum takes the cake</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> - but linking the on-site and off-site experience of stakeholders through a multi-touch relationship in which the museum is positioned as a hub in day-to-day life. Its a pretty big idea and some people might argue that if the visitor center is no longer the main event why is it still a museum? But I think we have been using the word "museum" for years to refer to organizations that are essentially community-based, social service, </span><a href="http://www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/Out-Of-SchoolLearning/Pages/strengthening-out-of-school-time-organizations.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">out of school time</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> learning institutions and in which </span><a href="http://www.artsjournal.com/artfulmanager/main/mission-or-means.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">exhibits serve as one means - but not the only means - to deliver on the mission</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">. And the projects I'm talking about do have a necessary physical dimension, but they move beyond that to encourage revisiting and reflection, and ultimately (hopefully) repeat visitation.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Although I haven't seen any single project that I think is THE model, there are some that I think are moving in a really exciting direction and which are testing this idea of how to support on-going dialogue with the audience extending beyond the museum's walls: </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>1. </b></span><a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/galleries/orange-zone/darwin-centre/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Darwin Center</b></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Darwin Center has </span><a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/darwin-centre-visitors/natureplus-visitors/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">a barcode system that lets you "collect" topics </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">that you want to follow up on later from home. The concept is after you visit you can go on line and you have a ready-made field notebook that is continuous with the exhibit. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuDLx1YwbI/AAAAAAAAAJg/tvL1z7Z_s9Y/s1600/IMG_5555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuDLx1YwbI/AAAAAAAAAJg/tvL1z7Z_s9Y/s320/IMG_5555.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This is the paper card with a barcode on the back that visitors pick up from displays throughout the exhibit.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuD1Bi-LmI/AAAAAAAAAJk/frhUMtek_UQ/s1600/IMG_5558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuD1Bi-LmI/AAAAAAAAAJk/frhUMtek_UQ/s320/IMG_5558.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Barcode scanning stations are integrated into tables and displays and are intuitive to use.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuFeJwWyFI/AAAAAAAAAJs/Ij3WGoGdcBw/s1600/IMG_5621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuFeJwWyFI/AAAAAAAAAJs/Ij3WGoGdcBw/s320/IMG_5621.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The media interactives use touchscreens and motion sensor technology, turning them into whole body interactives.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuGHuDTGRI/AAAAAAAAAJw/rBgWTt_qMHU/s320/IMG_5628.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Many of the interactives have screens such as this where you can "collect" topics or items to save to your barcode.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Pros: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The exhibit is very linear and almost all technology. On a busy day it is necessary to keep people moving down the ramp but each of the media interactives is both beautiful and content-rich meaning that people tend to get deeply involved. The barcode system at least suggests that you don't have to do everything </span><i><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">in</span></u></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> the exhibit since it is also on-line. Also, because it is information rich I wanted another chance to come back fresh and ready to absorb more at a later date. It was just too much detail for me to really get the first time around. This feels like an ideal scenario for on-line follow up, and the barcode system means each visitor can customize their web experience.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The website itself goes farther than the exhibit and allows visitors to connect with other affinity groups, join an extended conversation, and move from simple curiosity into sustained interest. In this way the website deepens the impact of the exhibit and improves the outcomes for changing attitudes and behaviors around sustainability, stewardship and personal responsibility.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Cons</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">: The execution of the on-line site is much more complicated than the exhibit. It is organized completely differently. When I logged on I had to set up my user profile before I could find my saved links. And even after almost an hour on line I still couldn't find my way to the items I had "collected" in the exhibit. The design of the exhibit is not mirrored on the website which makes it hard - for me nearly impossible after a month - to reconstruct what I had been thinking about during my visit.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>2. </b></span><a href="http://www.chicagochildrensmuseum.org/skyline.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Chicago Children's Museum: Skyline</b></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.gyroscopeinc.com/ChicagoChildrens.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Skyline at CCM </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(which we designed) has a set of Story Stations where a camera takes automatic snapshots of visitors as they construct a building. After finishing their structure visitors are invited to select images to create a digital book of their work and to narrate it. They can take their Building Permit home and enter a unique code into the museum's website to download their story. </span><a href="http://www.exhibitfiles.org/rick_garmon"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Rick Garmon, at CCM</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, says that almost 30% of visitors follow through and that the Museum is looking at additional opportunities to use this </span><a href="http://www.boulderjourneyschool.com/Pages/PDF's/Including_Parents.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">documentation and reflection strategy </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">in the museum. </span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuNLi_UIxI/AAAAAAAAAKE/dZg00w4KfZU/s320/5.4.A-v6+Multi-Media+Intro.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This is the graphic explaining the story station process to visitors.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuNLi_UIxI/AAAAAAAAAKE/dZg00w4KfZU/s1600/5.4.A-v6+Multi-Media+Intro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuHqei3lbI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/KAGNO9vLVfE/s1600/DSC_0085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuHqei3lbI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/KAGNO9vLVfE/s320/DSC_0085.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">A dad and his son make their building.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuHN7h0dKI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/VkjRQrr9ORw/s1600/MM+Station%252BScrim-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuHN7h0dKI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/VkjRQrr9ORw/s320/MM+Station%252BScrim-6.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This family is selecting images and recording their story after completing a building.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuHN7h0dKI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/VkjRQrr9ORw/s1600/MM+Station%252BScrim-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuHqei3lbI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/KAGNO9vLVfE/s1600/DSC_0085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuHx0ky-BI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/8dJ7RMuyWdM/s1600/SkylineSmallBuildScreen1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuHx0ky-BI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/8dJ7RMuyWdM/s320/SkylineSmallBuildScreen1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">An example of the story station instruction screen.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuMhYfmHmI/AAAAAAAAAKA/nDVgAoXiy_E/s320/SkylineSmallBuildScreen2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The story stations prompt both children and adults to reflect on the activity and create a joint narrative.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRuMhYfmHmI/AAAAAAAAAKA/nDVgAoXiy_E/s1600/SkylineSmallBuildScreen2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Pros</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">: This experience is self-contained. That is, it uses digital media to capture a start-to-finish building project. That makes it easy to use. The follow up in the exhibit of sorting the photos, selecting the best ones, and narrating a short story about the project also reinforces the experience, personalizing the digital book. I believe that these qualities of being concrete, immediate, and custom all contribute to making the media component meaningful and relevant. These decisions were worked through in prototyping and front-end evaluation, and are rooted in a child development approach. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">One of the other really successful aspects of this component is its ability to engage adults with their children. The media component calls attention to children's cognitive processes during play, and reminds adults of the thoughtfulness and work that drives children's play and from which they learn essential skills and knowledge.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Cons</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">: Making the digital book is a one-off opportunity - visitors cannot continue to play with or manipulate their book after it is completed. The on-line experience is limited to printing or downloading the file. It would be great if there were ways to continue to work on the story - adding music or sfx, recording new audio and editing it, adding drawings or even creating animations from the snapshots. There is also no dialogue back to the Museum from home. Where the Darwin Center has used the website to create an on-line community, this project is limited to pushing content from the Museum to the home and doesn't open up new networks for dialogue. That may be an audience issue in part - CCM is for early childhood - but it is an interesting opportunity especially for kids on the upper edge of the target age group who do play <a href="http://www.whyville.net/smmk/nice">on-line community games</a>.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">3. </span><a href="http://www.fristcenter.org/site/community/project_access.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Project Access,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Artquest Gallery, </span><a href="http://www.fristcenter.org/site/default.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Frist Museum</span></a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Artquest is a maker gallery at the Frist. I haven't been but everyone I know who has loves it. I spoke with </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.fristcenter.org/site/education/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Anne Henderson, Director of Education at the Frist</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> about the gallery and their </span><a href="http://www.projectaccess.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Project Access website</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">In Artquest visitors can make their own art. After they complete a project, visitors can use photo stations to take digital pictures of their work. They can also have their photo taken and get their own personalized card which gives them access to their digital photos on-line. Visitors can save as many images as they want and all they need to do is bring the card with them to add new work to their on-line portfolio. There is a simple on-line interface that allows visitors to continue to work on their projects (now digitally) or narrate them, share them, and update their community profile. The website itself was created by </span><a href="http://www.littleplanet.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Little Planet Learning</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> and was funded as part of an </span><a href="http://www.fristcenter.org/site/inthenews/newsdetail.aspx?cid=593"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">IMLS grant</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> for working with adult ELL. </span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TSNDW1GXDvI/AAAAAAAAAKM/OtFyCzm_X_8/s1600/Chuck%252C+Lincoln+%2526+Sophie+at+Frist+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TSNDW1GXDvI/AAAAAAAAAKM/OtFyCzm_X_8/s320/Chuck%252C+Lincoln+%2526+Sophie+at+Frist+4.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.gyroscopeinc.com/compBios_chuck.html">Chuck Howarth</a> and family at the Frist Artquest gallery</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TSNEMqkg_AI/AAAAAAAAAKU/L7gyY7uN1TM/s1600/Frist+ArtQuest+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TSNEMqkg_AI/AAAAAAAAAKU/L7gyY7uN1TM/s320/Frist+ArtQuest+8.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TSNEoxREh4I/AAAAAAAAAKY/rLhbDJmkVLg/s1600/Frist+ArtQuest+16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TSNEoxREh4I/AAAAAAAAAKY/rLhbDJmkVLg/s320/Frist+ArtQuest+16.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Artquest art making space.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TSNF6TW1fRI/AAAAAAAAAKc/5oUsDZGyUNg/s1600/projectaccesswebsite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TSNF6TW1fRI/AAAAAAAAAKc/5oUsDZGyUNg/s320/projectaccesswebsite.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Project Access website landing page</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Pros</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">: The website serves as another "gallery" for the museum with a set of digital activities including managing your own portfolio, quizzes, lesson plans, and more. Once in your own portfolio users can create a narrative for their artwork. There are also areas where an entire class can share their work. There is no fee because the Frist is free to 18 and younger, and because the site was originally conceived for ELL the vocabulary is accessible for all ages. The project is easy to maintain because it was built for low end computers (using low resolution graphics etc). And the number of users has shown that it is a successful example of how to use technology to sustain a relationship with museum.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Cons</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">: There are some drawbacks to this project. For one, it only handles flat art and can't do animation. That is really only a </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">problem</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> if the Frist wants to put animation stations in Artquest, but because of how easy it is to animate online it would be nice to have the option to create animated shorts and add them to the portfolio. There is also limited opportunity to interact with other website users, or with the Museum itself - wouldn't it be great to be able to favorite other on-line works, and have the most favorited works displayed as digital art IN the Museum? </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Because new images have to be uploaded at the Museum (the database is hosted by the Museum and the card scanners live on the staff desk in Artquest) the website supports repeat visitation to the Museum. But if someone made an artwork at home they could not add it to their portfolio unless they brought it in. Anne told me the change she would make, if they were designing the project today, would be not to do physical cards for people to carry because they are too easy to leave behind or lose. Instead they would look at alternative technology solutions to creating log-ins.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Do you have others?</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We'd love to hear if you have had personal experience with any of these or other examples of projects that link museum exhibits to the web in an iterative experience. What works? What doesn't? And can the internet be ultimately another "exhibit platform" for museums?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-86005253733434579872010-12-29T08:50:00.000-08:002010-12-29T08:50:59.688-08:00The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Justine Roberts, Principal</span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRtj3un1m1I/AAAAAAAAAJU/vPq7fKgPprc/s1600/ECMLogo_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRtj3un1m1I/AAAAAAAAAJU/vPq7fKgPprc/s320/ECMLogo_small.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">As it does for many of us, the approach of January inspires me to review the past year for important ideas, and new insights to carry forward. In that spirit I have been going through notebooks lying on my desk and reviewing old notes to myself. This morning I came across a couple of pages about the <a href="http://www.reggioalliance.org/">North America Reggio Emilia Alliance (NAREA)</a> <a href="http://www.reggioalliance.org/narea/winter_conference/historical.php">conference</a> from a year ago. The conference was held at my former high school (<a href="http://www.csw.org/">The Cambridge School of Weston</a>) and hosted by my children's preschool (The Children's Garden). </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">One of the sessions was presented by an art educator from the <a href="http://www.carlemuseum.org/">Eric Carle Museum</a> who talked about their art making/studio space. What she said has resonated with me for the past year and I recently returned to the notes I took to refresh my memory. Her perspective on the atelier is unexpected and lovely.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The art studio at the <a href="http://www.carlemuseum.org/">Eric Carle Museum</a> is the same size as the gallery space which displays Carle's own work, and of the reading library. That in itself is unusual. There is equal priority given to display of the master artist, visitor making and creating, and focused investigation. In fact, it might be more accurate to say that looking at art, making art and reading about art are all seen as equally important means for delivering on<a href="http://www.carlemuseum.org/About_Us/Mission_History"> the mission of the museum</a>.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i>"To be a teacher, you need to be a learner and empower others to be learners with you."</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This idea is at the heart of how the organization functions. Although the museum is about illustration as an art form, and about elevating Carle's work, the museum is open to new ideas from all directions. The focus is on meaning making and discovery. And programs are intentionally designed to appeal to a broad age range.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The Studio is a laboratory for thinking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">" - G<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1047577.Beautiful_Stuff">andini and Topal wrote in Beautiful Stuff.</a> And at the Carle Museum the art studio is seen as a space in which visitors are invited to talk about art and their response to it. But within the galleries as well there is an emphasis on encouraging visitors to talk to one another, communicate about the art, and debate. The docents use facilitated discussion to ensure that groups participate actively. The idea underlying this methodology is about doing something <u><i><b>with</b> the audience, not <b>for</b> them</i></u>. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The goal is not only to make the looking at art active (VTS), but also to learn what people are thinking - what is in their minds so that the museum can learn from its audience. <a href="http://www.carlemuseum.org/Resources/Education">(There is a page on their website with links to documents discussing their philosophy in more detail).</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Studio</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRtk4oTbvBI/AAAAAAAAAJc/nCeNeJQjJWo/s1600/4315128758_905d13ac97_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRtk4oTbvBI/AAAAAAAAAJc/nCeNeJQjJWo/s1600/4315128758_905d13ac97_s.jpg" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The studio functions as a <i>What If . . .</i> space rather than a <i>How To</i> space. The space is designed to support visitor-to-visitor conversation. There is display of visitor-made work, and a mail box in which visitors write postcards for future visitors to read. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Large windows that look out on the garden provide a kind of living sculpture and backdrop to visitor work. One recent project invited visitors to make their own garden mural on the window, interacting with the natural environment as well as with the collaborative work-in-progress.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRtk3xBvjKI/AAAAAAAAAJY/d2SK20qS5ZU/s1600/4314392293_2b8734d855_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SBEG2Fz6_vc/TRtk3xBvjKI/AAAAAAAAAJY/d2SK20qS5ZU/s1600/4314392293_2b8734d855_s.jpg" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Because the context is Eric Carle's work, and part of the concept is to find inspiration in his work, staff select a set of materials for visitors to work with, or set up a framework for them to add to. These starting points are chosen to offer multiple entry points and to encourage visitors to think in new ways. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Within the studio the staff are also playing around with how to organize and present materials. They have been creating new categories such as thick and thin, or primary and secondary, rather than traditional ways of sorting art supplies. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">This act of setting up the space is an act of preparation for visitors and it seems staff are still finding the right mix of openness and structure that works philosophically and logistically. For now, these starting points act as seeds which grow organically as visitors take them on and make them their own.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>The Staff Role</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The bigger picture is problem solving. When visitors are stuck staff ask them "<i>what are you trying to do and how can we do that with what we have</i>?" In fact, staff play a large role in the studio - asking questions, engaging adults and finding ways to include them. They treat communication as another experiment. They want displays to excite visitors and they want visitors to be curious. Recently they have been focusing on collaborating on displays with visitors - treating these also as starting points and inviting visitors to document their activity in the space as part of the communication for future visitors.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Space, Stuff, Staff</span></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">To inspire interpretation and reinterpretation. As the presenter in my NAREA panel said: </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><i>P</i><b><i>edgogy is movement. It is a journey of discovery. And it comes with responsibility to listen to others, solve problems and document the process.</i></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-90400467714002920322010-12-08T16:21:00.000-08:002011-10-18T15:38:01.906-07:00Work in Progress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2eF6r6Rb0F0/TQAf250i5nI/AAAAAAAAAlY/6viE0sYErSM/s1600/FTC_panoramic_2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2eF6r6Rb0F0/TQAf250i5nI/AAAAAAAAAlY/6viE0sYErSM/s400/FTC_panoramic_2010.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By Maria Mortati</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of our current projects, The Fort Collins Discovery Museum has posted a set of <a href="http://fcmdsc.org/about/new/site.html">panoramic views of the job site</a>. It's a lot of fun for us to see things progress. For those that live there in town, it must be really exciting.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Maria Mortatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02345208082249376642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1207720302407853697.post-11420147813207935602010-12-07T10:30:00.000-08:002010-12-07T10:31:05.230-08:00PALS at the Rancho Cucamonga CA library<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Justine Roberts, Principal</span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Last week </span></span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/US_IMLS"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">IMLS tweeted a video</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> put together by clients of ours, </span></span><a href="http://www.rcpl.lib.ca.us/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">the Rancho Cucamonga Library</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> in southern California, about </span></span><a href="http://gyroscopeinc.com/RanchoKids.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">the PALS (Play And Learning Islands) </span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">which we designed and built. The video is great and features library director Robert Karatsu who says: </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: navy;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We really think that our PALs in a small way start to bridge the worlds of public libraries (who are good at early literacy and programming) and children’s museum (who are so good at interactivity and sparking creativity among other things.) Our missions are so similar that it just seems natural to try and find more common ground."</span></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aLxp9CM4d3I?fs=1&hl=en_US">
</param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true">
</param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">
</param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aLxp9CM4d3I?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As their name suggests, PALS are free-standing and movable elements that contain hands-on inquiry-based activities. They live in and among the stacks of t</span></span><a href="http://www.rcpl.lib.ca.us/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">he Rancho Cucamonga, CA library</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. And in fact, the PALS are intended as an encounter with interactive playful learning as a complement to the more expected cognitive learning libraries support. The PALS bring together a combination of interactives + library materials (books and media) + supporting materials about learning through play. Although they can be docked in the children's room, they can also be located outside, or placed strategically for users to discover as they browse for books. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We have uploaded photos to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157675&id=304694954204">our facebook site </a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">from the opening.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The PALS are essentially a smaller, fast-tracked part of a larger vision for a children's museum in the library. In the first phase we completed a community needs assessment and master plan for a children's museum addition. After completing that work, the library wrote a grant to move forward with the PALS as a way to build staff capacity and pilot some of the ideas about bringing play into the stacks.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In thinking about the design of the PALS we considered the scale of the library and the space available for activities. Each PAL is about 25-50SF. Each is designed to support a range of play styles including imaginative play, experiential learning, constructive play, aesthetic exploration, and creative problem solving. Their topics range from science and engineering, to visual and performing arts, to history, and to environmental science. Although the themes were selected to support the interests of library users and staff, the library believed the PALS would spark additional interest and demand in these areas. So prior to installing the PALS the library developed their collections on these specific topics - including 500 new books.</span></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The PALS require minimal power, water and lighting. Overall, the PALS are low tech, modular, and portable. They include space for books and graphics, and utilize green, sustainable materials. The PALS’ are designed to not need crates for transportation or storage, but smaller units have their own tops which allows them to be "closed" like a “suitcase”. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The PALS may be small but the vision is ambitious. For the Library the PALS have the potential to expand the range of learning styles and services available through the library, making the library more inviting to families, more inclusive, and more relevant. In addition the goals included:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Pioneering new ways of engaging families in learning in libraries, using interactive museum exhibits as inspiration. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Creating a scalable model which could spread to other libraries.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Offer activities that tie into the big themes of literacy, arts and culture. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Change how people think of the library by expanding and enriching the library experience.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Support literacy through layered activities that allow users with many interests and skills to be successful.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Make the library more family friendly.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Goals for visitors included:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Providing experiences that motive users to learn, light a spark of interest, and build self-confidence about creative exploration.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Help families realize the role of play in the learning process.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Encourage families to consider the library the hub of the learning community, not just a place to borrow books.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Increase access to playful activities, the time people in the community spent playing, and broaden the types of playful activities they engaged in. </span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> *Bring joy into families lives.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The PALS create a unique blend of reading, browsing and doing at the Rancho Cucamonga library. They are an experiment that is working. </span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Museums-Now</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0