Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 192
•
Trim: 7 x 10½
978-1-4422-7075-6 • Hardback • May 2017 • $84.00 • (£54.95)
978-1-4422-7076-3 • Paperback • May 2017 • $48.00 • (£32.95)
978-1-4422-7077-0 • eBook • May 2017 • $45.50 • (£31.95)
Beth Hansen started her more than twenty years museum career through a graduate program, but she has always worked at very small museums where she was the entire exhibit development/construction staff. Her mix of academic training and practical experience led her to teach workshops on creating exhibits for other small museums. Over the years she has worked with creative volunteers and ingenious museum directors who have come up with great ideas for do-it-ourselves projects. Beth is adjunct faculty in the Museum Studies program at the University of Oklahoma.
She developed and teaches the Exhibit Development class for the Museum Studies graduate program at the University of Oklahoma. As a faculty member, she has access to the latest research in visitor studies. Sharing this information with volunteers at small museums is her goal for Great Exhibits!.
List of Tables
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Preface
Chapter 1 Why Create an Exhibition?
Why do Museums Create Exhibitions?
Museum's Mission
Permanent or Temporary?
Worksheet 1
Chapter 2 Who will Create the Exhibition and When?
Who Will Create the Exhibition?
Worksheet 2
Timeline
Worksheet 3
Chapter 3 What will the Exhibition be About?
Audience
Topic
Public Programming
Worksheet 4
Chapter 4 What will People See?
Objects and Photographs
Worksheet 5
Mood/Visitor Experience
Hands-On Activities
Room Layout
Worksheet 6
Chapter 5 What will we Tell Them?
Label Writing
Worksheet 7
Auxiliary Materials
Worksheet 8
Chapter 6 Will it Work?
Evaluation
Mock Up Testing
Examples
Worksheet 9
Chapter 7 How will we Do it?
Walls and Hanging Systems
Temporary Walls
Exhibit Cases
Barriers
Period Rooms
Mannequins
Interactive and Hands-on
Photo Display
Labels for Objects
Section Headings and Titles
Wall Panel Production
Object Display and Mounting
Lighting
Glossary
Bibliography
There are many handbooks about creating exhibitions, but this is the first one I found that really goes into the basics, the nuts and bolts of exhibit planning and installing. It is especially good for people in small museums who wear many – if not all – hats in the process. The many practical examples from label writing to mannequin building show that you don’t need a big budget to create compelling exhibitions.
— Angela Kipp, collections manager, TECHNOSEUM, Mannheim, Germany, and co-founder and administrator of Registrar Trek
Ms. Hansen's extensive experience with small museums qualifies her as an excellence source of information and inspiration for exhibit makers in similar settings. Her practical guide, rich with suggestions and easy-to-use worksheets, will be useful for small museums of any topic or location.
— Beverly Serrell, Director, Serrell & Associates and author of "Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach"