Thoughts on Reinventing the Museum Part 1

Trying to bring the museum to the public, as this book has shown, is a real challenge.  The authors in Reinventing the Museum really covered that well, especially Lisa C. Roberts in chapter thirteen. How can you be honest, while at the same time present the information clearly enough for the general public to learn from it? Roberts showed what a struggle that can be when interpretation is concerned. The key sentence in that chapter for me was on page 147: “just because visitors look does not mean that they learn.” George E. Hein, when he talked about the Constructivist Museum, stated one of the keys was to present the content in way that makes it easiest to understand. However, does that make it any easier to learn? In a museum where there is an abundance of exhibits and a wealth of information, someone can be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of knowledge. How can you be sure anyone will come out of the museum feeling like they learned something? I think there is more to it than just effective communication, like Roberts suggested. Hein talked about the need to focus on the visitor, not the content of the museum. In class we talked about selling out when creating history the general public wants to see. Well, how do you not sell out by focusing on the visitor? If you cater to the visitor, isn’t that the same as the History Channel catering to the viewer? Just some thoughts I had. One thing I did find very intriguing was John Cotton Dana’s desire to create a museum for the immigrants and the housewives. Dana was from the 19th, early 20th centuries, which made it unusual for a male of that era to focus on groups such as immigrants and housewives.