MW2010: B. Harris, C. Olsen and S. Zucker, Educators, Curators and Docents: Creating Interpretive Resources based on Conversation

Smarthistory/PAM collaboration
To test the smarthistory model in a museum
To break down barriers between “interpreters”
To introduce less didactic, more open-ended methods of interpretation
To pilot a sustainable model for technology-based interpretation
To give visitors (and interpreters!) permission to talk, and look, and think out loud….

Evaluation
100 intercept questionnaires of visitors, 11-12/09
Goals:
Gather visitor impressions of the conversation format of the videos
Gather visitor impressions of the iphone application

Summary
61 thought videos gave them deeper experience of artwork
55 thought it helped them appreciate the artwork more
14 thought it distracted from experience
25 found videos too long
4 found they had no effect

Conversation format
“ The Museum decided to make these videos as conversations rather than recording one expert talking about the work of art. Did you like or dislike the conversation format? Why?”
Liked: 60
Liked some of them: 4
Ok/neutral: 11
Dislike: 13
Other: 6

Some (Positive) Visitor Comments…
“ Liked it because it gave you a chance to agree or disagree.”
“ The conversations are good for a variety of learning styles… cool and current.”
“ Makes you feel a part of the discussion.”
“ It was funny. I liked that it was casual, enjoyable, and informative, but not preachy-teachy.”
“ I loved it. It was so charming. So much more interesting, calming, and interactive.”

Some (So-So)Visitor Comments…
“ I disliked it because there was too much opinion about what the artist did and why.”
“ I kind of disliked it. I wasn’t so interested in them making jokes. I liked the informality, but I would prefer one person talking. The eavesdropping didn’t work for me.”
“ I prefer an expert—knowing for sure that something is something.”

Questions raised by evaluation
Do people conflate informality with an absence of expertise, and deep content?
Did we raise the “expertise” issue with our phrasing of the question?
The preexisting expectations of visitors regarding museum audio
Do the videos really encourage visitors’ own conversations in the galleries?

http://www.archimuse.com	37
http://www.slideshare.net	21
http://conference.archimuse.com	18
http://www.museumsandtheweb.com	16

MW2010: B. Harris, C. Olsen and S. Zucker, Educators, Curators and Docents: Creating Interpretive Resources based on Conversation

by museums and the web on May 31, 2010

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MW2010: B. Harris, C. Olsen and S. Zucker, Educators, Curators and Docents: Creating Interpretive Resources based on Conversation — Presentation Transcript