New methods of analysing archival exhibitions

Abstract

Archival material is increasingly included in exhibitions. Although exhibition design literature exists, it mainly advises curators, provides technical information or reviews exhibitions. However, after an exhibition's creation, its creators must know how successful it was. There is limited research on analysing exhibition success and less on archival exhibitions. This article aims to redress that lack by assessing existing literature and creating a methodology for assessing the success of an exhibition that was both physical and online. Physical and online exhibitions differ greatly in format and requirements and need different methods of analysis so the author created a suite of methods, covering aesthetic analysis, visitor observation, task evaluation and interviews. The methodology was intended to be easily repeatable and adaptable.

Keywords:

• archival exhibitions
• creating methodologies
• outreach

Acknowledgements

My thanks go to Jenny Bunn for her help and advice in writing the original dissertation. She has also encouraged and advised me during the rewriting of the dissertation into an article and her suggestions were an invaluable help. My thanks also to the staff and visitors of the National Army Museum for their time and patience during my research and especially to curator Michael Ball, for generously giving up his time and allowing me to interview him.

Notes

^1.Belcher, Exhibitions in Museums, 47–52.

^2.Stylani et al., “Virtual Museums, a Survey,” 521; Vandi and Djebbori, “How to Create New Services,” 15–8.

^3.Liew, “Online Cultural Heritage Exhibitions,” 375; Lester, “Is the Virtual Exhibition the Natural Successor to the Physical?” 95.

^4.Bitgood, Social Design in Museums, 254, 260.

^5.HM Government, Equality Act 2010.

^6.Diamond, Practical Evaluation Guide, 11, 25; Dudzinska-Przemitzki and Grenier, “Non-Formal and Informal Adult Learning in Museums,” 10.

^7.Dudzinska-Przemitzki and Grenier, “Non-Formal and Informal Adult Learning in Museums,” 16.

^8.Belcher, Exhibitions in Museums, 99–100.

^9.Reed, “Blurring the Boundaries,” 48; Doon, “Give Peace a Chance,” 186.

^10.Doon, “Give Peace a Chance,” 186.

^11.Morgan, “A New Era for Archives,” 24–25.

^12.Ibid., 24.

^13.Lester, “Is the Virtual Exhibition the Natural Successor to the Physical?” 88.

^14.Morgan, “A New Era for Archives,” 25.

^15.Ibid., 34–5, 38.

^16.Ibid., 53, 46.

^17.Ibid., 52.

^18.Westall, “How Effective is the Exhibition as a Means of Outreach?” 66–7.

^19.Ibid., 53, 65.

^20.Falk and Dierking, Museum Experience, 99.

^21.Ibid., 100.

^22.Falk, Moussori, and Coulson, “Effect of Visitor's Agendas,” 115.

^23.Diamond, Practical Evaluation Guide, 31.

^24.Soren, “Best Practices in Creating Quality Online Experiences,” 138.

^25.Lindauer, “From Salad Bars to Vivid Stories,” 45–6.

^26.Belcher, Exhibitions in Museums, 112–3; Kalfatovic, Creating a Winning Online Exhibition, 84.

^27.Dean, Museum Exhibitions, 35.

^28.Belcher, Exhibitions in Museums, 129–30.

^29.Ibid., 129.

^30.Hong et al., “Towards an Integrated Digital Museums System,” 242.

^31.Ibid., 232.

^32.Kalfatovic, Creating a Wining Online Exhibition, 40–41.

^33.Khoon et al., “Design and Development of an Online Exhibition,” 91.

^34.Ibid., 88.

^35.Reid, “Digitisation of Heritage Material,” 148–150.

^36. Lester, “Is the Virtual Exhibition the Natural Successor to the Physical?” 91.

^37.Kalfatovic gives good examples of the variety of themes that can be used as the basis of different online exhibitions in Kalfatovic, Creating a Winning Online Exhibition, 10–15.

^38.Kalfatovic, Creating a Winning Online Exhibition, 3.

^39.Ibid., 24.

^40.Belcher, Exhibitions in Museums, 112–33; Kalfatovic, Creating a Winning Online Exhibition, 84.

^41.Bowen, “Virtual Museum,” 4.

^42.British Standards Institution, PD5454 Guide for the Storage and Exhibition, 24–5.

^43.Liew, “Online Cultural Heritage Exhibitions,” 6.

^44. Lester, “Is the Virtual Exhibition the Natural Successor to the Physical?” 95.

^45.Sarraf, “Survey of Museums on the Web,” 232.

^46.Liew, “Online Cultural Heritage Exhibitions,” 4.

^47.Stylani et al., “Virtual Museums, a Survey,” 524.

^48. See note 41 above.

^49. See Serrell, Judging Exhibitions, 54–60 for a full explanation of her methodology.

^50.Serrell, Judging Exhibitions, 41.

^51.Falk and Dierking, Museum Experience, 2–3.

^52.Bitgood, Social Design in Museums, 332.

^53.Ibid., 382–3.

^54. These behaviour patterns are all described in Serrell, Paying Attention, 9.

^55.Bitgood, Social Design in Museums, 44–5.

^56.Diamond, Practical Evaluation Guide.

^57.Russell, “Collaborative Evaluation Studies,” 17–20.

^58.Serrell, Paying Attention, 3.

^59. See Serrell, Paying Attention, 15 for a more detailed explanation of these indicators.

^60. See Serrell, Paying Attention, 13; Diamond, Practical Evaluation Guide, 53–7 for a full explanation of the basic methodology.

^61.Diamond, Practical Evaluation Guide, 68–9, 73–5.

^62.Serrell, Paying Attention, 34.

^63.Korn and Jones, “Visitor Behaviour and Experiences,” 267.

^64. See Serrell, Paying Attention, for an explanation of her methodology; Bitgood, Social Design in Museums, 221–2.

^65.Bitgood, Social Design in Museums, 224.

^66. As advised in Diamond, Practical Evaluation Guide, 51–2.

^67.Dyson and Moran, “Informing the Design of Web Interfaces,” 395.

^68. As described in Cunliffe, Kritou, and Tudhope, “Usability Evaluation for Museum Websites,” 244.

^69.Dyson and Moran, “Informing the Design of Web Interfaces,” 397–9.

^70.National Army Museum, “Jubilee.”