Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm the voluntary curator of a local community museum. We are already dementia-friendly, many people in our small town are learning Makaton and we are becoming more dyslexia-aware as we gradually replace our signage.
I would like to produce a Welcome Guide for schools and parents and need advice from you - the experts- on what needs to go into it. There are so many things we cannot change like the fluorescent strip lighting but at least we can warn people of what they can expect on a visit.
Any advice gratefully received - Thank you!
I've been to multiple museums in many countries this year, and some things that make a big difference to me:
- single clear route through that lets me see all of the exhibits. That doesn't mean it can't loop back on itself or offer multiple entry/exit points, just make it easy to be sure you've seen everything. My favourite museums have had a clear simple path to follow
- no unexpected stimuli. For me that's noise, but generally avoid surprising people with lights, sound or movement. One museum had a whole linear section in which each exhibit loudly played audio of people reading diary excerpts, poetry and other writing relating to the exhibit. I got a third of the way through and the constant barrage of unexpected loud noise forced me to stop and leave
- if you have a tannoy, make sure it doesn't echo. I had a horrific experience in a large hangar style museum where their "Our next event starts in ten minutes" announcements caused great distress because they were too loud, exacerbated by an echo
- provide a means to identify exhibits in detail. I will gloss over and ignore 90% of your museum but take an entirely unreasonable level of interest in half of the rest. I don't need the museum to provide all of the detail but give me enough information to undertake further research with a level of accuracy - e,g, "Engine by Fred" doesn't help me later when I find out that Fred built multple models, and am trying to understand the features of the one I saw without knowing which one it was
I think most of the rest comes under 'how to make museums interesting and engaging' so I wont insult you by adding more.
Will try and take Here4achat and your comments about noise on board. Suspect it will be costly so may do without until we can get some funding. Thank you.