Summarizing Some Thoughts
This article originally appeared in Exchange,
a newsletter published by the Wisconsin Historical
Society. (Volume 25, Number
1, January/February, 1983) It is the ninth in
a series of articles titled Exhibiting
Local Heritage. The series features information
about planning, designing and constructing interpretive
museum exhibits. This article was written by Tom
McKay, retired local history coordinator for the
Wisconsin Historical Society.
There is an old story about a little boy who always looked out the back window when riding in a car. One day his father asked him why. The little boy replied, "I don't care where I'm going, but I want to know where I've been."
The articles in this series have discussed local history exhibits
in terms of idea and communication. In future issues of Exchange the
focus will shift to inexpensive exhibit production techniques. This
transition represents a time to go one up on the little boy in our
story and look at both where we have been and where we are going.
Successful exhibits teach main concepts and employ words economically. With that inspiration, it seems appropriate to look back on previous columns in this series and summarize a few of the main thoughts.
On the Nature of Interpretation.
- Interpretive exhibits use artifacts — objects,
documents and pictures from the past — to help
us understand and explain community history. They
may present information, study effects, explain relationships,
make comparisons, and raise — as well as answer — questions.
- Interpretive exhibits do more than identify what artifacts are. They explore what artifacts mean.
- An interpretive exhibit might be thought of as
an equation that says this group of artifacts, graphics
and labels equals this historical concept.
About Ideas for Exhibits
- Whether stimulated by objects in the museum collection or concepts in local history, the most important step in a good interpretive exhibit is choosing the topic.
- When a museum collection seems inadequate to prepare
an exhibit on an important local history topic, dig
a little deeper. More research and thinking about
the topic in terms of the people affected often lead
to additional objects, pictures and graphics appropriate
to the exhibit.
In Regard to Communication
- Memory of details may be transitory, but an exhibit should present three to six main concepts that become part of the visitor's permanent knowledge.
- Artifacts serve as visual memory keys to help the visitor understand and retain the historical information and concepts in an exhibit.
- Each section of an exhibit begins with a keyword
label, a phrase summarizing the main concept presented
in that section of the exhibit.
- Detail labels are brief paragraphs that present information supporting or explaining a concept. They coordinate closely with artifacts so that what you say is what the visitor sees.
- Good exhibit design is like writing with artifacts.
The language of artifacts includes selection, prominence
and relationship.
- Exhibits occupy space, and the visitor's comfort within that space becomes an important factor in successful communication.
Looking ahead to future columns in this series, a few important points should also be summarized.
About the Skills Used in Exhibit Work.
- Very simple exhibit techniques can make a success of a good exhibit topic. No amount of sophisticated or expensive techniques can salvage a bad topic.
- Skills already possessed by local historical society
members such as woodworking, sewing or handicrafts
can be applied to exhibit production.
- Other skills such as handlettering, working with
plexiglas or making an outline map can be mastered
with practice.
- Never rely on using a new technique in an exhibit until tested first.
With Apologies to Murphy.
- Something impossible to predict always goes wrong in preparing an exhibit.
- Exhibits always take longer than you expect to
construct.
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