INTRO CASE Interpretation and Display Report May 2017
INTRO CASE Interpretation and Display Report May 2017
Katherine Clough and Zena McGreevy with Rachel Utting (VERVE) With many thanks to other staff at the Pitt Rivers Museum for their involvement. CONTENTS
PART ONE – Interpretation Plan 1. Introduction (VERVE Project) 2. Context (Display location and existing content) 3. Key messages from internal staff discussions 4. Summary of approach to incorporating audience research 5. Examples from other institutional approaches
PART TWO – Audience Research 6. Desk-based research on previous PRM evaluations 7. Aims, objectives and methodologies of new audience research 8. Front end evaluation - Museum surveys 9. Formative evaluation - Focus groups with target audiences 10. Formative evaluation - Public workshop in front of case
PART THREE – Recommendations 11. Refned thematic outline 12. Suggested collections content 13. Suggested interpretation tools
APPENDIX 1 Existing display text and additional photographs of case Key messages document circulated to staff
APPENDIX 2 Example of Museum Survey booklet Focus Group workshop materials Public workshop materials (Timeline photo game, call my bluff and object handling activity)
APPENDIX 3 Visualisation of refned ideas for thematic content Preliminary object list
2 PART ONE – Interpretation Plan
1. Introduction Objectives Background
2. Context Location of Introduction Display Case and Discussion
3. Key messages from internal staff discussions Talking to colleagues Reviewing existing display Considering current museum research and activity
4. Summary of approach to incorporating audience research
5. Examples from other institutional approaches Desk-based research on four other institutions Alternative Ways of Introducing the Museum
Below three objects in the existing display (left to right): mask from Gabon 1884.114.114; snakes and ladders boardgame from India 1895.29.1; conical beadwork cap from South Sudan 1936.10.66.
See also APPENDIX 1 Existing display text and additional photographs of case Key messages document circulated to staff
3 1. INTRODUCTION
Objectives As the VERVE project at the Pitt Rivers Museum (2012-17) enters its fnal stage, redisplaying the museum’s Introduction Case will allow for the introduction display to be refreshed, linking it to current research, to the new displays resulting from the VERVE project and also include key messages included in the VERVE proposal. This Interpretation Plan outlines the approach to the redisplay this case as part one of the Interpretation and Display Report, setting the scene for the audience research (part two), and Suggestions (part three).
Background VERVE is a fve-year £1.6 million HLF project that supports vital conservation, refreshment of selected areas of display and much improved case lighting, alongside a wide-ranging programme of free public activities illuminating the ways in which human creativity has driven developments in design and technologies. Started in Autumn 2012, VERVE is in the fnal phase of the themed redisplay, ‘archaeology’, (following ‘performance’ and ‘craft technology’ phases). A section of the grant talking about various new displays includes:
‘…a chance to introduce General Pitt-Rivers himself, along with the ‘topological’ system he originated, whereby artefacts are arranged by function and by solution to human problems rather than by cultural area. From this vantage point we will encourage visitors to consider the merits of this typological system in making cross-cultural comparisons and the diversity of solutions to the basic problems of existence we all face as humans. The opportunity will also be taken to undo the myth that the Museum as a whole remains unchanged from Pitt-Rivers’ day, when in fact he provided only a small percentage of the artefacts in it and the Museum embodies many subsequent changes in anthropological thinking and museological practice.’
This remit to address the museum’s founder, General Pitt-Rivers, had originally been propsed for inclusion in the archaeology redisplay. However, in 2016 it was proposed that these themes may better be addressed through refreshing the display of the Introduction Case.
The Introduction Case for the Pitt Rivers Museum was last redisplayed in 2002 and is now no longer the frst display that visitors encounter since the platform at the museum’s entrance was built in 2009, reconfguring the original entrance vista. Refreshing this display will provide an opportunity for current museum staff to showcase recent research. Conducting audience research around this redisplay will also provide an opportuntiy to learn from current museum visitors (which continue to grow, with 450,000+ visiting last year), adding valuable insight into how people visit and perceive the museum as a whole, and help guide approaches to interpretation and display.
VERVE’s target audiences include independent young people, artists and crafts persons, technology and design teachers, and people over 60 years old. Existing audience research for the VERVE project will be consulted for the Introduction case display. Further audience research will also address these audiences as well as the wider general public and establish the visibility and impact of the existing Introduction case, providing a baseline to evaluate any improvements against after redisplay.
4 2. CONTEXT
Location of Introduction display case 2001/2 – 2017 The Introduction to the Museum display case (C.21) used to be the frst case that visitors encountered when entering the museum through the previous walled temporary display area and shop, before the Platform Project (built 2009).
ENTRANCE PRE-2009 INTRO CASE ENTRANCE POST-2009 INTRO CASE
INTRO CASE
ENTRANCE
ACCESS TO STAIRS & SOUTH DOOR
Internal discussion on the location Considering the signifcant alteration to the museum’s entrance, informal internal discussions were held across the museum on whether or not a new Welcome Case would be better placed in an alternative location. It is no longer the frst display that visitors see, and half the display is obscured by the platform with the new entrance layout. Questions were raised as to whether visitors use the current display. Also, the impressive vista view offered by the platform, and stairs to further foors being on the opposite direction, raised questions as to whether visitors even walk past the corner where the case is located. After the discussion of these points the following action points were suggested:
• Audience research will be conducted to map visitors’ movements in the museum to see if people do walk past and stop at the case, and whether they realise it is an introduction case. • The case will follow current display as concept-led using a smaller selection of objects to invite the visitor to ask questions of the museum and the collections on display, and will be readable from both left-to-right and right-to-left. • The possibility of electricity supply for AV will be investigated internally, and opinions on AV sought through audience research. Thought will also be given to other existing and potential alternative AV visitor experiences, such as audio guides, during decisions on content and interpretation.
5 3. KEY MESSAGES FROM INTERNAL STAFF DISCUSSIONS
The approach taken to working on key messages including internal discussion with staff members, review of the content and narrative of the current case with the museum’s current identity and strategic plan, and consideration of current research, staff publications, and museum activity that may feed into new proposed content for an Introduction Case.
Talking to colleagues The frst tasks involved talking to key staff members about the Intro Case including the Director, Laura Van Broekhoven (LvB), those who have worked on the history of the museum and General Pitt-Rivers, Jeremy Coote (JC) and Alison Petch (AP); and staff who currently use the case in its current confguration: the Education Team, Andy McLellan (AMcL), Becca Mcvean (BM), and Carly Smith-Huggins (CS-H); as well as Front of House.
Reviewing existing display The existing case is one of the few (perhaps the only) display to ask explicit questions in the text and was one of the frst cases to introduce object labels with paragraph text. Five questions in larger bold font, and distributed at different heights within the case, form the textual narrative structure for interpreting the case: 1) What is the Pitt Rivers Museum? 2) How did everything get here? 3) What’s new at the museum? 4) What do these labels mean? 5) How are the displays arranged? Provisional observations of the case show that (assuming some visitors may read the case from left-to-right) a large ‘Welcome’ sign occupies the top left, with a facsimile of General Pitt-Rivers immediately below; a prominent pie-chart graphic in the bottom left showing founding collection as only 7% of total collections; larger objects (PNG shield, Māori carving) on the left-hand side; and smaller objects distributed throughout the case from the bottom to the top with relatively large foating text labels among the collections displayed. Text labels for objects address the questions positioned nearby, e.g. objects under ‘How did everything get here?’ include descriptions that show the variety of ways object enter the museum from museum staff, students and external individuals.
LARGE ‘TITLE’ SIGN * * PROMINENT * IMAGE OF GENERAL PITT-RIVERS
QUESTIONS DISTRIBUTED * * *THROUGHOUT CASE
PIE CHART
6 Deciding Key Messages for re-display While different types of research are referenced in the object labels of the current case (such as ‘collected by a student’), feedback from academic and collections staff members suggested a stronger emphasis on demonstrating research (following current sector trends for emphasising public engagement with research). The actual objects selected and texts written were considered as still relevant, but in need of refreshment.
The proposed main messages that the display will need to convey confrmed in the Displays Committee Meeting in November 2016: • The museum is more than General Pitt-Rivers (only 7% of collection), and includes photographs, manuscripts, sound and flm recordings as well as objects. • The typological foundations of the museum are uniquely useful today to: 1) critically refect on history 2) enable cross-cultural comparison of universal issues facing humanity • The museum is a dynamic, world-leading research institution in anthropology and archaeology, part of the University of Oxford (and GLAM?) • The museum connects people and things through a web of local, national and international partnerships • The museum displays are not static but constantly used, change over time, refect changes in anthropological thinking, and are actively shaping contemporary museum practice
Display Content Hierarchy Diagram In order to begin working through these main messages , ZM and KC applied a model from training in planning and writing interpretation attended at the V&A in September 2016, namely the use of a display content hierarchy. This model highlights different levels of visitor engagement and how the key message, or conceptual thread, feeds into the other messages communicated in the display, and is the take-away element for visitors casually looking at case (‘paddlers’), with other messages still also being available for visitors wanted more information (‘swimmers’) and specialist detail (‘divers’). The fve messages bullet-listed above have been summarised as ‘continuous’, ‘unique’, ‘collaboartive’ and ‘dynamic’ research. The specialist detail has been left blank at this stage, as it is also dependent on which collections are selected for display and how they express these themes.
7 4. SUMMARY OF APPROACH TO INCORPORATING AUDIENCE RESEARCH
Initial tasks Desk-based research tasks for the frst two months of KC’s new position working on the Intro Case project was spent looking at existing audience research reports (see Part Two, section 6 of this report), conducting internal discussions with staff members at the PRM with ZM, and collating case studies of display methods from other institutions (see section fve, next section of this report).
Developing a collections list from internal discussions During this time a long-list of potential collections was also begun by ZM. This included considering collections currently on display in the Intro case - whether they can be easily rehoused in another display case, whether they should be kept in the Intro case redisplay, and whether they are ok to go into storage to make way for items not currently displayed instead. Some collections currently displayed can be easily relocated elsewhere, such as the ‘Morse’ knife. Other items, such as the mask from Gabon (1884.114.114) would be best kept on display, and there is no obvious 1981.12.1 alternative display space available. Internal discussion with staff found that some of the collections currently in the case are used in tours and education programmes, but the case as a whole is not specifcally as an ‘Introduction’ case. For example the Education department use the carved fgure of a colonial offcer (1981.12.1), and beadwork cushion. Just as the recent VERVE displays on archaeology have drawn on recent staff publications, it was also decided to draw up recent museum and staff publications, namely Michael O’Hanlon’s introductory book, The Pitt-Rivers Museum: A World Within (2014), which contained over 100 colour images of well-documented highlights from the museum’s collections. Including some of the existing display collections as options for audience research (alongside new suggestions) would help identify which collections help tell the key messages outlined in the previous section. Photographs, manuscripts, flm and sound are under-represented as collections in the current case and so the collections list should include suitable examples that better refect these, and cross-collection links. Beatrice Blackwood at Wayland Smithy 1998.271.75 Collections related to current museum research (since the case was last displayed in 2002 but especially more recent work) should also be included. Archaeology collections relating to General Pitt-Rivers considered for the new archaeology displays, but that there was not space for, were also considered, for example the model of Wayland Smithy (1884.140.97) Wayland Smithy Model 1884.140.97 Developing audience research Beginning October 2016 the aims, objectives and methodologies of new audience research were developed (see Part Two, section 7), and methods chosen included: • Front-end evaluation using museum surveys that include mapping visitors as well as a short number of questions, with the help of volunteers recruited through the OUMP volunteer scheme, ideally before January (see Part Two, section 8). • Formative evaluation using workshops with focus groups of VERVE target audiences (young adults, older audiences), and the general public working with other museum staff and existing museum activity (see Part Two, sections 9 and 10) The GANTT model on the following page (updated retrospectively for this report) shows how the different stages of desk-based and audience research were incorporated into a working project plan, to help its completion before passing on suggestions to other staff for fnal object choices, conservation work, case design, and installation by end of September 2017.
8 9 5. RESEARCH ON OTHER INSTITUTIONAL APPROACHES
This desk-based research has been divided into two categories: looking at three examples of display cases, and looking at three ways digital technologies could be used to help introduce the Pitt Rivers Museum collections. The following was complied as inspiration and to encourage critical thinking for this project, i.e. not necessarily with a view to emulate display and interpretation methods of these other institutions.
Introduction to Display Case Studies Three case studies provide inspiration for approaches and comparison for our interpretative strategies. Two address similar collections to the PRM – the Introduction Case for Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology (MAA) at University of Cambridge and the Introduction Wall for the Medicine Man gallery at the Wellcome Collection. A further example of display and interpretation technqiues from another GLAM (Gardens, Libraries and Museums) institution – the Weston Library is also included.
Introducing the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology (MAA) at Cambridge The frst example was chosen as the MAA is also a university museum with similar collections. However their display methods contrast with the PRM, having adopted all modern display cases with a contemporary visual style. A display case prominently near the entrance to the museum provides a useful comparison, as also it is narrower and deeper it serves a similar function to the PRM Intro Case. In the top section is a contemporary artwork (by George Nuku, in clear acrylic - hard to make out in the photograph below). A text panel sits in the centre of case at head height with a large font title ‘Every object tells many stories’ and two short paragraphs of text. Below this a shelf or platform at waist height supports c.10 objects with text labels positioned underneath. Nine open-fronted drawers underneath this display types of collections (e.g. lantern slides and pottery fragments) visualising ‘behind-the-scenes’ museum storage practices and suggesting that there are more objects in the museum than can be conventionally displayed. A larger, anthropomorphic carving stands full height on the right of the case. Below, a display content hierarchy has been used to consider the messages in the case:
VISITOR LEVELS DISPLAY CONTENT HIERARCHY: MAA CASE STUDY OF ENGAGMENT
KEY MESSAGE
“Every object tells many stories” CASE TITLE
PADDLERS
VISUALLY STRUCTURED IN CASE ARRANGEMENT SECONDARY MESSAGE SECONDARY MESSAGE
Look again at Look again: 10 focus objects: There are more objects and Object stories come from more stories than what are on diferent parts of the world display (i.e. items in storage) and diferent time periods SWIMMERS
SPECIALIST DETAIL SPECIALIST DETAIL SPECIALIST DETAIL SPECIALIST DETAIL Individual stories Old and new Objects in Text and of selected stories at the storage drawers photographs on objects as short Museum: arranged by bottom panel paragraphs on Contemporary type highlighting provide more lectern label artwork by diferent kinds of information George Nuku collections DIVERS SMALLER TEXT & LOWER DOWN IN CASE
10 Introducing the Medcine Man gallery at the Wellcome Collection The Medicine Man gallery is devoted the collecting habits of Henry Wellcome, with similar collections to the PRM’s medicine and body related collections, and so provides a interesting comparison for addressing the story of General Pitt-Rivers at the PRM. However the display and approach contrasts widely with the PRM. A long wall of back-lit shelving running down the length of the exhibition room acts as an introduction to the space and collector. Positioned on the shelves are many glass recepticles, arranged in a minimal aesthetic without object labels. However there are also photographs (with captions), an AV screen with rotating silent video, drawers with information inside that visitors can open, and gallery guide leafets that visitors can pick up among the glassware. Two large text panels structured as three paragraphs in a large font (repeated the same text) sit near a painting of Henry Wellcome at one end, and a photograph of him at the other. Opposite this wall are accessible handheld digital guides.
The Weston Libary: Special Collections Display Case and Mounting Options The third example considers a lone special exhibition display case in the Weston Library court. It has similar dimensions to the PRM Intro Case but has three ‘windows’ rather than four. A large title cut in vinyl lettering is positioned at the top left of the case, with a large, illustrated text panel (with large font size) taking up the center of the case, an a large vinyl motif on the outer glass in the top right. The display contains mostly open books and some larger manuscripts which are positioned in the lower two-thirds of the case, with a large plinth at the bottom supporting foating text labels, with other labels distribued near displayed items on the back of the case.
Above (top left, clockwise): a person standing in front of the case demonstrates the reading height of labels; the full view of the display case; another example of book collections display from the ‘Treasures’ exhibition at the Weston library, showing open, closed books as well as books stored on shelving.
11 Display considerations from case studies These three case studies raise a number of considerations for the PRM Intro Case. • Firstly, they demonstrate how the structure of the case visually conveys messages at a glance, some with a more clear narrative (MAA) than others (Wellcome). • All three examples placed smaller objects and text labels in lower sight lines - any text above headheight was in a font larger than pt.20 to increase readability. The diagram below proposes a tiering of content in the case into a top tier for mainly visual material (no small text), and the bottom two thirds to represent collections and labels positioned within sightlines of visitors (including seated individuals using wheelchairs) as an option for structuring new content for display. Considering this during the selection of collections means a good variety of suitable items will be included in the long lists for the designers.
• All three examples use a large text panel (2-3 paragraphs) positioning it in a way that the case was readable approached from either end; both MAA and Weston put main text in the centre of the case, while the Wellcome Collection example used a text panel at both ends of the case. This is an important consideration for the PRM Intro case as the current title board appears in the top left, but with the new platform only the right hand side of the case is visible from the bottom of the entrance stairway. If a title or text panel are used in the new display, the direction of narrative in the case will ideally be structured so it can be read in either direction. • The Weston displays show how a photograph album could potentially be displayed in the Intro case, including plans for conservation requirements, such as page rotation. Discussions with Photograph Collections such that a Thesiger album (especially one connected with recent external research) could be good option as it is two large to ft in the cases currently propsed for a long-term display of photograph collections in the museum. • The Wellcome included a digital screen as well as nearby digital guides. We may want to consider whether AV could be introduced into the case (and look into this further in audience research) and we should also consider the relationship of the Intro case to other Wilfred Thesiger’s albums in the PRM interpretation guides at the PRM (audio and wif app). Photograph Collections
12 Ways of presenting text and images These two documents were shared at early VERVE meetings to discuss the potential of using a large text panel in the Introduction case (instead of the welcome sign), to distinguish the display from other cases, and mark it more clearly as place to get information about the museum.
13 Alternatives ways to introduce the Pitt Rivers Museum The time and budget restraints for this project mean that changing the location of the case would be very diffcult. However after discussions with internal staff about the case, especially with LvB, this desk-based research also considered alternative tools for introducing the museum including developments in digital technologies, to better position the new display within current museological practice.
Existing interpretation material: The PRM already has alternative interpretation in place for visitors including various text information on the website and a 3-D virtual tour of the museum (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/ virtualtour). Longstanding people-led tours have been available at the museum, including newer developments of audio-description tours for visitors with visual impairment in 2016 by Oxford University Museums Partnership (there may be a future development of audio pens for use across the museums as well). At the museum a digital interface is accessible on visitors’ own smartphone devices when they connect to the museum’s free wif; this provides an additional range of interpretation tools, including links to previous developed audioguide (now hosted on soundcloud), as well as collections highlights, foor plans, and links to the other university museums. On the following pages are three examples of how new technologies could further transform way the museum is introduced in the future: interactive cases, digital pens, and using light and sound.
Smartphone screen-grabs showing the range of interpretation tools available to PRM visitors while connected to the free WI-FI.
Audio pens play verbal recordings of text labels in museums when a symbol is scanned by the device.
14 A different kind of display case: Magic Box Something like the MagicBox technology may provide an ideal way to introduce visitors to the collections in the future, especially in the form of a rotating ‘object in focus’ display near the front of the Pitt Rivers Museum entrance. Installed in an illuminated display cabinet, the Magic technology currently being advertised by Australian ICT company DatacomIT produces ‘a transparent and touch sensitive layer of digital content that visitors can browse while at the same time having full sight of the original item behind glass’ (quote from weblink below image). Combining a touchscreen interactive with the transparent case allows visitors to browse further related content as image galleries, movies and text appear layered over the object of focus.
The limited space available in the PRM means that a feature case like this would be best located either on the PRM entrance platform, the library, possibly the Clore balcony, or in another area that is not a throughfare.
http://www.datacomit.com.au/our-products/the-magicbox-its-a-kind-of-magic/
Visitor-led highlights: Cooper Hewitt Pen The Smithsonian Museum of Design, the Cooper Hewitt in New York, recently relaunched their museum building incorporating digital technology throughout the visitor experience. Of particular interest here is the exclusive Cooper Hewitt Pen (developed with Bloomberg Philanthropies) which is a handheld tool for visitors to digitally collect items on display by scanning a symbol on display labels. These personalised ‘virtual’ collections can then be downloaded and explored further in the museum on large interactive table surfaces (which allow drawing and 3-D modelling, as well as linking to further information). The digital fles are also stored online, accessible to the visitor when they get home via a unique url address on their ticket. Data collected by the pens also provide useful visitor information for the museum.
The limited space availble in the PRM and desire to maintain an object-heavy display (with less-reliance on explanatory text labels) means such a tool as this would be a great way of providing additional layers of information and oppor- tunities for visitor engage- ment. Appropriate space would need to be found for an interactive surface table or wall. https://www.cooperhewitt.org/new-experience/
15 Using Light and Sound In November 2016 artists Luxmuralis (Artist and Sculptor Peter Walker and Composer David Harper) projected visual imagery from images taken of Pitt Rivers Museum and OU Museum of Natural History collections and projected them as expressive assemblages to a soundtrack as part of the Museums at Night event. This creative event provided new perspectives on the collections usually tucked away behind the walls. Later Luxmuralis also projected images around the city of Oxford.
Luxmuralis at OUMNH and PRM in November 2016 Science Museum, London, video uploaded October 2011 https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/multimedia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZZk5qVmYqE
Other museums have experimented with using projections on their external walls. For example, in a more commercial partnership, a youtube video uploaded by the private company Sensodyne shows an interactive mapping projection on the façade of the Science Museum in London, where visitors could hit a punch bag in the street and cause the virtual destruction of the museum’s wall. Using digital technologies like these may help to metaphorically break walls between the PRM’s the collections and the PRM’s public, literally projecting images of the museum as a dynamic, creative place that engages with innovative technology and arts to audiences that may never have stepped inside the museum, or see it simply as repository of ‘old curiosities’. However, as shown with the two examples above, such projects can have different motivations (commercial connentations as with the science museum may be considered less appropriate for the PRM), and such projects could be harnessed to best achieve the PRM’s aims. Additionally, the Pitt Rivers Museum does not have a prominent external entrance and so will be limited on how much it can achieve without the partnership with OUMNH in projecting on the front façade.
Using Light and Sound Inside Innovative lighting inside the PRM has been used in artist interventions, such as Wong Hoy Cheong’s work in 2004, as well as at events to create atmosphere from giving visitors torches in a darkened museum afterhours to see the museum “in a different light”, to creative uplighting of pillars by the museum’s technical services team. There may be further opportunities to use lighting with further digital technology in the museum to highlight groups of collections, to tell a narrative or to assist in communicating more abstract concepts.
https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/fles/uploads/PDFs/artist_ installations.pdf
16 The Royal Green Jackets (Rifes) Museum provides an example of how timed lighting has been used to construct a narrative out of a static display. Two overhead projectors are positioned at the top of a large display case containing a miniature diorama of the Battle of Waterloo. This display is lit as other displays for most of day (top image). However, at set times the lights in the room dim and the overhead projectors display a light animation that highlights the location of key players (bottom left image) and key ‘scenes’ of specifc actions, accompanied by an automated voiced narration. Although this example works specifcally with a diorama, the idea of using spot lighting to construct narratives and link collections across different display cases may be of useful consideration for introducing the collections at the Pitt Rivers. Photographs taken by KC in 2016. Royal Green Jackets (Rifes) Museum website http://rgjmuseum.
Other museums have successfully used projected lighting inside museum spaces to introduce key cultural concepts that may be more abstract or immaterial. For example, the First Peoples exhibition in the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum (part of Victoria museums in Australia) uses innovative mapping projection technology on a kinetic sculpture to introduce visitors to the creator Bungil. Described as ‘taking the form of an eagle, a constellation and sometimes a man’ (quote from lead curator Genevieve Grieves in the video- link below), Bungil’s metamorphic qualities are conveyed in the organic form of a suspended sculpture with moving feather-like blades of the artwork and changing light show.
https://museumvictoria.com.au/about/mv-blog/aug- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO0q83dY3EQ 2013/bunjils-wings/
The First Peoples exhibition also features other immersive large-scale multimedia experiences that are literally multi-vocal, highlighting the diverse languages of Victorian Aboriginal people and are people-centric, such as the ‘Deep Listening’ interactive where Koorie people between 8 and 72 years old share talk about their culture. These examples provide a challenge to the PRM to think more creatively how it can display ongoing relationships with and perspectives from source communities within the museum space using digital technology. Digital technologies and using light can allow for layers of interpretation to be added to the collections without disrupting the PRM’s current displays that have become iconic.
17 PART TWO – Audience Research
Stage 1 – Desk based research
6. Existing Audience Research 2002 consultation ALVA and Kiosk Data VERVE Firebird Report 2012 VERVE Archaeology Display Families Consultation
Stage 2 – New audience research
7. Aims, objectives and methodologies of new research (tabulated) Approach and use of results
8. Front End Evaluation - Museum surveys Summary, Results, Evaluation
9. Formative Evaluation - Focus groups with target audiences i. Youth Action Team focus group Summary, Results, Evaluation ii. Meet me at the Museum focus group Summary, Results, Evaluation
10. Formative Evaluation – Public Workshop Summary, Results, Evaluation
See also APPENDIX 2 2.a Museum Survey materials 2.b Focus Group workshop materials 2.c Public workshop materials
18 Stage 1 – Desk-based research 6. EXISTING AUDIENCE RESEARCH A summary of existing research was consulted to fnalise both the gaps in understanding that can new audience research could fll and to develop suitable methods for conducting audience research.
2000-2002 consultations The Intro Case was last redisplayed in the early 2000s under the Designation Challenge Fund (DCF). As part of this project independent museum interpretation consultant, Alison James, was commissioned to produce an initial formative Evaluation Report in September 2000, and a Summative Evaluation Report of all completed DCF-funded redisplays inJuly 2002. The methods used for formative evaluation included the preparation of a mock-up Introductory display with visitors invited to use post-it notes on the glass of the case to provide feedback - over 200 visitors taking part in this activity. Two versions of two introductory texts were provided for the public to choose from. The visitors were also observed (54 separate groups, 105 individuals) and 10 individuals were interviewed. Every 5th visitor was approached (as a representive sample) as they entered the museum over a 5 week period from 10 August – 16 September. The results of this research were varied. Some provided clear implications for display, for example a majority (70%) preferred the shorter ‘B’ texts as ‘clearer, more accessible, and easier to read and understand’ (texts A ‘waffy’ with ‘too many names’), with preferences for simpler fonts, with text broken into paragraphs, and there was even a suggestion of positioning child and adult text versions side-by-side. The interviews produced mixed responses as many visitors did not feel the need for an introduction to the museum; the overall conclusion was that visitors did not to be burdened with too much information and were not prepared to spend long time reading texts. The observations confrmed this as people were found to not stop for long (a few seconds to 10 min max. average 2-4min). The objects with the most ‘pulling power’ drawing people to the display and keeping their interest were found to be moccasins, pottery, cushion, and a photograph of Makereti. The post-it notes comments were mostly positive with a signifcant amount request no change, and mentions of the OUMNH revealed confusions between the museums as separate institutions. The recommendations called for a contextualisation of the signifcance of the objects, especially through personal connections and with the visitors that challenge expectations and leave room for them to make their own meanings:‘the cognitive dissonance makes them stop and think. The unexpected provides and access point for many visitors’. Object labels should not be too small (as hard to read) or too big (dominating display) and should be integrated as dividing 150 word label into 3 x 50 words has been found to increase readership from 11% to 35%. Perhaps surprisingly overall recommendation of this report was that the idea of an introductory display should be reviewed with alternative forms of interpretation considered as well (leafets, audioguides etc.): “The text intended for the introductory display could be used in a different way, for example in a booklet available on a table near the entrance, and in the Information Area. The cases available for the introductory display can contain many of the proposed objects can be used with their existing labels, thus serving as a taster for the museum itself, showing the range of material in the collections and challenging peoples’ preconceptions.”
19 In 2002 Alison James returned to complete summative evaluation of the case using accompanied visits and concept mapping of whole museum and recommended that: • A welcome sign to be included • Meetings and activities not be held in front of case • FOH direct people to it more * • Additional orientation be provided (maps and trails) • Label text be provided in different format (laminated sheet and/or booklet)+ James concluded that the Introductory case was overall unsuccessful in its attempts to explain the history of the museum and how it operates ‘not particularly because of its content, because most visitors failed to notice it at all and those who did, did not engage with it for any length of time’. (In contrast, her simultaneous evaluation of the BODY ARTS display on the lower gallery found this new display to be ‘very successful’.) *
+
Implications from 2002 for today As can be seen in the image above many of the recommendations from the 2000- 2 evaluation reports were implemented (large sign, broken up text, etc.). The fndings also need to be balanced by the fact that this case used to be the frst case that visitors encountered near the entrance of the museum, and that it was located in a space that was more of through-fare leading into the court than is the case today. However, issues of ‘pulling power’ are perhaps more pertinent today as the display case location has now potentially become a quiet corner of the museum rather than being situated in the entrance. Internal discussions with PRM staff acknowledge that although it is a diffcult task to introduce the whole museum in one case, it is still one worth attempting, especially as a dedicated physical space to revealing some of the (updated) unseen work that goes on in the museum using collections to tell these stories more prominently than as currently represented in the permanent displays. Further, signifcant additional orientation (case signs, maps, and paper trails) and alternative interpretation tools (audioguides and smartphone interfaces) have been developed since 2002 so there are more external points of reference for orientating visitors with the display. Finally, although the benches in front of the case should ideally be moved to stop visitors sitting with their back to the display, the idea of the Intro Case as a place where appropriate activities can take place in front of or nearby (for example educational object handling sessions) should be considered in the design of the new display.
20 ALVA and Kiosk Data The museum collects statistical visitor information using external bench-marked data from ALVA (along with other GLAM partners) that is collected across the year through exit surveys by ALVA staff. This is combined with data collected through use of a digital interactive screen or kiosk in the museum court that visitors fll out in of their own accord (which has self-selection bias) to produce analyses. It is worth briefy considering recent results of these in planning new audience research. ALVA Audience Segmentation 2016 The ALVA report provided by Jess Suess (OUMP) in 2106 shows that just over half the total visitor demographic of the PRM are classifed as in the higher socio-economic segmentation categories (‘affuent achievers’ and ‘rising prosperity’) with the other percentage split over categories of ‘comfortable communities’, ‘fnancially stretched’, and ‘urban adversity’ in decreasing percentiles. The visitor demographic for PRM visitors for Oxfordshire (not including Oxford) increases to 65% in the high socio-ecomonic segmentation categories. The report also shows that PRM visitor motivations were highest (24%) in the ‘broadening horizons’ category (compared to ‘tick box’, ‘child engagement’, ‘social mindset’, ‘topic interest’, ‘special focus’, ‘big kids’). Across all OU museums, local residents are more likely to visit for the ALVA categories ‘child engagement’, ‘social mindset’ and ‘broadening horizons’. The redisplay of an internal Introductory case will not be able to have great impact on increasing visitor numbers from lower socio-economic segments without targeted audience engagement that is unfortunately not possible (for it to be truly meaningful) within the timescale of this project. However it is useful to consider this data in the overall context of the project and consultation with fellow staff members who work more closely to diversify museum audiences through outreach and events. Including references to museum work that engage with broader audiences in Oxfordshire and demonstrate the museum’s commitment to engaging with diverse communities may help to at least bring recognition to this issue in the display. Free responses from a 2016 spreadsheet of Kiosk results to two open questions are summarised below as word clouds to given an indication of the self-selected feedback:
RESPONSES TO: WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT THE MUSEUM?
RESPONSES TO: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE CHANGED AT THE MUSEUM?
21 VERVE Firebird Report 2012 Audience research completed by consultants FIREBIRD in 2012 in the beginning stages of the VERVE project used focus groups with proposed VERVE target audiences of craftspeople/artists, technology teachers, and older audiences. Although the Intro Case project will address VERVE target groups, it will also necessarily also need to address wider general museum audience. A series of brainstorming activities than then reduced broad discussion down to collecitvely selected key terms provide a useful consideration for planning further audience research. The word cloud to the right summarises the most popular of these refned key terms from the FIREBIRD focus groups, and provides a contrast being more emotively engaged words that also suggest motivations and meanings than feedback provided through the PRM kiosk.
VERVE Archaeology Display Families Consultation Recent audience research conducted during the VERVE project as part of the World Archaeology displays considered interpretation for families. Two group sessions involving young people were held using replica museum objects in February 2016, the Young Archaeologist’s Club and a family drop-in that included a range of game-like activities from making their own displays using a mock-up (of a desk-top case) to testing understanding of terminology, chronology and identifcation of objects. An additional evening family focus group session was also held in March 2016 with one participant returning from the drop-in event, and other parents recruited through advertising on Facebook and through the museum’s Friends group. This event involved discussions guided by questions on the social relevance of archaeology and opinions on existing Pitt Rivers displays and labels. Recommendations for displaying World Archaeology for a family audience from all these sessions were accumulatively presented in a number of themes, suggesting displays should: • be aesthetically pleasing to attract attention, • embody narrative to help make sense of arrangement of objects, introduce the uses of mobilities of objects, including use of illustrative captioned pictures (not just of men though) and silent video content in displays or accessed through smartphone apps, • be relevant by including contemporary artefacts, references to local places, and/or contemporary themes. The model of Waylands Smithy was mentioned as a popular item for display because of the local connection. • be accessible to read, i.e. written in plain English and explaining any jargon used. Small object labels should not be removed (as good challenge to at least try and read and interesting aesthetically) but supported with other text. Physically accessibility was also raised with the height of the desk-top cases making it diffcult for some children to see, and the importance of learning by touching was also raised, with a suggestion of permanent touchable exhibits near the cases
22 Stage 2 – Planning new audience research 7. AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGIES Following the above summaries of existing research and inspiration from other institutions, and the desired key messages to communicate from internal discussions, four aims associated objectives were divised for new audience research:
Aim Objective Method Timeframe Is the Introduction Is it on a frequently Mapping surveys of Plan surveys by Case redundant in its used visitor path? visitor movements November. Conduct current location? with follow up them in December Do people stop and questions. 2016. read the case? Write up summary Are they aware it results for January is an Introduction 2017. Case? What motivates Why do people come Approaching Plan surveys by visitors to come to to the museum? visitors to fnd out November. Conduct the museum/ what motivations, needs them in December What more do they expect from and impressions 2016. information do they the museum? through questions. want? Write up summary Use creative survey results for January What are the techniques like 2017. impressions that asking visitors to visitors are left with? draw what saw in the museum to see what stands out to people. What collections, What collections Conduct focus Three workshops stories and from the current long group workshops February 2017 – messages do the list and exisiting with activity asking March 2017. museum’s target display stand out to people to choose audiences engage people? objects from the long with the most in the list to display in a Why are these context of introducing scaled mock-up of objects chosen the museum? the case and then (colour, size, other discuss with them reasons)? why they made those decisions What display What use of visuals? Conduct focus Three workshops techniques do our group workshops February 2017 – What use of texts? audiences think with activities asking March 2017. will help to attract What kinds of spatial people to select people to the Intro arrangement? from a list of visuals case and interpret its and texts, arrange contents? them in relation to the mock-up case of collections in activity above.
23 Notes on methodology and use of results Questions about the whether the location of the case is suitable were decided to be best answered through the use of mapping surveys followed up with questioning visitors about whether they noticed the Intro display. This survey was developed as front-end evaluation at the beginning of the project; further questions were included to try and capture motivations, knowledge of the museum and opinions of what could be improved on and it was decided to map visitors across all three foors of the museum to give a better indication of visitors’ experience of the museum as a whole. Visitor surveys were developed in a discrete booklet format that includes mapping techniques, a short questionnaire and drawing exercise, conducted by trained volunteers, with an aimed for completion of initial results by January 2017. Following internal discussions on the importance of this display to represent the diversity of activity of the museum it was decided to work with other PRM staff members in the proposed group sessions. As museum staff already work with groups that meet the target audiences we decided to run focus group sessions on the Intro Case with a younger audience, the newly developed Youth Action Team (with AMcL and KR), as well as with an older target audience, Meet Me at the Museum (with BMcD). Ideas for a session with the general public in front of the Intro case were combined with a Saturday Object handling session that currently runs regularly in front of the Intro case (consulting with CS-H). Working with colleagues also helped with recuiting groups within the limited timeframe of the project as well as enabling further staff involvement from different perspectives, especially as these staff roles involve having to interpret displays with visitors. The pre-existing plan for the redisplay of the Intro case in the museum Court was to communicate the internally decided key messages (Section 3, PART ONE): • The museum is more than General Pitt-Rivers (only 7% of collection), and includes photographs, manuscripts, sound and flm recordings as well as objects. • The typological foundations of the museum are uniquely useful today to: 1) critically refect on history 2) enable cross-cultural comparison of universal issues facing humanity • The museum is a dynamic, world-leading research institution in anthropology and archaeology, part of the University of Oxford (and GLAM?) • The museum connects people and things through a web of local, national and international partnerships • The museum displays are not static but constantly used, change over time, refect changes in anthropological thinking, and are actively shaping contemporary museum practice Following the interpretation planning (see PART ONE of this report), ‘the museum as a place of ongoing collections-based research’ was a key thread that links many of the above points. Different types of museum research and related activity can be highlighted through selecting collections that have been well-researched (for example written about in recent museum publications), but that collectively also reveal the variety in the museum as different materials, colours, ages, origins, uses and signifcances to different people. Using different methods of audience research has resulted in the provision of a range of evidence-based recommendations, listed at the end of each activity here, but also summarised in PART THREE. The museum surveys provide more detailed information on how the case is currently used, and may infuence the selection of collections for display and the narratives prioritised, by also collecting wider information on how visitors use the museum as a whole (of particular interest here as the subject of the display is the museum itself). The focus groups allowed us to test ways of communicating the revised key messages, and can also feed into the choice of collections and narratives (facilitated by using prepared lists of suggested objects arranged in categories by ZM & KC), as well as the content, style and placement of supporting text and images, to improve appeal across the museum’s current target audiences.
24 8. Front End Evaluation - Museum surveys
Summary Museum staff (Kathy Clough and Zena McGreevy) designed survey booklets, based on techniques successfully used by Inge Daniels (ISCA) and Frankie Wilson (Bodleian), both specialists in audience research. Feedback from other VERVE team members was also incorporated into the booklet designs after discussion in a group meeting. The booklets consisted of fve sections using four research methods and a refexive approach: I. Mapping visitor movement – the frst three pages each contained an outline plan of one of the three museum foors (Court, Lower Gallery and Upper Gallery). Every third visitor entering the museum had their movements recorded on these plans (from a suitable distance so as not to disturb their visit and/or affect the results) with a series of symbols to represent different activities (line for walking, ‘X’ for stop, ‘R’ for reading, ‘P’ for taking a photograph, ‘C’ for having a conversation). II. Questions – the following three pages contained fve questions for visitors to help better understand their motivations, key items that stood out to them, general impressions, identify whether they noticed the Intro Case, and to enquire as to perceived improvements on the museum. III. Drawing – visitors were then asked if they would like to draw the museum. This was a method from Frankie Wilson’s training session that involves getting participants to change colour pen part way through drawing to indicate what they started drawing frst. IV. Demographic data – the demographic data was set out as multiple choice that the visitor flled in themselves to break up the survey. V. Refection – the person conducting the volunteer had a fnal page to refect on whether the answers to the questions matched their own observations of the visitor’s behavior and record any other comments regarding the individual survey. The different research methods and encouragement of refection in the survey were used to better analyze whether visitors have noticed the Intro case (they may have walked past and engaged with the case without realizing it is the Intro case), and to create variety in the data collecting process compared to a clipboard with A4 pages of questions. The surveys were conducted by volunteers, who were recruited via an advert placed on the Oxford University Museums Volunteering Service website and circulated by email to students on the MSc in Visual Material and Museum Anthropology. Both staff and volunteers were involved in the analysis of the fndings, which was a combination of quantative and qualitative data. Volunteers discussed each survey with KC or ZM at the end of the surveying session. The volunteers later returned to the museum to enter the data onto an excel spreadsheet prepared by KC and ZM (which logically followed the pages of the booklet), as they could best interpret their own handwriting. Once the data was in the spreadsheet, the data was cleaned by KC and quantitative analyses could be done by collating totals and percentages of recorded data (e.g. number of stops at the Intro case and demographic data) in table form and using graphs, and producing word clouds of open entry text answers. The visually recorded data - the maps and drawings - were also scanned. The results, evaluations and recommendations of the surveys are presented in the fve sections listed above as I. - V. (with the questions in section II. itemized as II.i to II.v) on the following pages after the summative results.
25 Summative Results • 71 surveys (70 usuable) from Monday 12th – Saturday 17th December 2016 • 1.6% total museum visitors surveyed during the survey time period. The small percentage is accounted for by the time taken per survey using a qualitative data collection approach. • Demographics of visitors at a glance (IV):
50% aged under 30 22% aged 40-60 10% aged over 60 18% unrecorded
36% tourists or frst-time visitors 38% visit Oxford semi-regularly 9% live in Oxford 17% unrecorded
Our aims and objectives asked: Is the Introduction Case redundant in its current location? • The current location of the Intro Case still has signifcant footfall. A third (33%) of surveryed museum visitors headed towards it when frst entering the museum, and 71% of surveyed visitors walked past the case during their visit. • The ‘pulling power’ of the current display is relatively high with almost two thirds (62%) of those walking past it stopping to have a closer look. (I.e. 44% of total museum visitors stopped at the Intro case). • Only 31% of people said they spotted the Welcome case (47% said they didn’t notice, but 18% of these walked past without identifying it as a Welcome case)
What motivates people to come to the museum? • The museum came highly recommended for most visitors (17%), with tourism also mentioned frequently (13%) and the museum being referenced as a ‘must-see’ style destination (including reference to internet reviews and guidebooks) mentioned by 16% of those surveyed. • A signifcant number of visitors (19%) mentioned their student status as the reason they visited the museum. • 10% of responses mentioned family and fun as their reasons for visiting. • Only 5% mentioned that they had been before. • One visitor mentioned the shop.
What collections, stories and messages stand do audiences engage with? • ‘Shrunken Heads’ was the most common response for what stood out to people at the museum, with ‘Totem Pole’ second, but discussions about arrangement of the displays and the variety of the collections also standing out. • Many reactions to the museum expressed emotive responses to the atmosphere and sense of history rather than intellectual knowledge and/or research. • The history of the museum was the most common factor listed for fnding out more about the museum, although visitors saying there was ‘suffcient’ information was the second highest response.
26 I. Mapping
Initial observations of the visitor mapping showed that total coverage by museum visitors was relatively broad there are no large areas of the ground foor that are currently getting overlooked by a majority of visitors. Mapping visitor movements provided more information on user experience than just asking questions of visitors. • 33% visitors turned right (towards Intro case), 33% visitors turned left; 24% went straight forward at the bottom of the stairs near the museum entrance (with 11% uncertain). • 52% of those surveyed visited the LG; 40% visitors made it to UG
• Vistors spent most time in the Court, and slightly longer on average on UG than LG: • The following graph shows quantitative summary of recorded activities per foor of the museum:
27 II. Summaries of survey questions
Four of the fve questions in the survey were open ended (the outstanding question being ‘yes or no’ style answer). After typing up the responses into the excel spreadsheet (see Appendix 2) this ‘data’ was then read and ‘cleaned’ by summarising responses into key-term catagories to enable comparative analysis. For example, phrases like “frst time in Oxford” and “on holiday” were summarised as “TOURIST”. There is envitably a risk in analyst bias in interpreting these results, but this approach allows the key terms to emerge from the data, shaped by the visitor responses, rather than asking people to pre-selected terms. Summarising the data in this way allows for word clouds to reveal prevelant themes at a glance. The wordclouds were generated on the website http://www.wordle.net by using the column of key terms copied from the main spreadsheet and arranged in alphabetical order (see ‘WORD CLOUD SUMMARIES’ sheet on the Excel spreadsheet, and Appendix 2).
II.i What brought you to the museum today?
Discussion and Evaluation The above word cloud shows that most common response for visitor’s motivations for coming was that it was ‘recommended’. This fts with existing knowledge of the museum’s reputation as a smaller more hidden venue in Oxford, tucked behind the OUMNH. Many visitors motivations for coming were linked to tourism, which matches with the 36% of visitors survey who identifed themselves as ‘I’m on holiday’ for the reason they are in Oxford more widely. Although there are signifcant resources introducing the museum online (on its website and wif interface), only a small percentage of people openly referred to the internet in their motivations for coming. However, it could be that their recommendations came from internet searches but were simply not explicitly stated as such, and are therefore indistinguisable in these survey results. At the time of writing, the Pitt Rivers Museum is the second top-rated destination in Oxford on the Trip Advisor website (between the Ashmolean and OUMNH), a site known for its infuence within the tourism sector. Only 20% of surveyed visitors mentioned study or student-status in relation to their motivation for visiting the museum (with half of these affiated to the University of Oxford and half external). This is signifcant but perhaps relatively low considering it is a university museum, although the fact the survey took place outside of the academic term could be signifcant in producing this result. The museum as a space for family-time was also prominent, which fts with existing resources invested in providing for families at the museum. Return visitors were less represented, although the noticable number of visitors coming simply to ‘kill time’ shows that the museum continues to attract a range of visitors with varying motivations.
28 Initial thoughts for recommendations Given the strong role of recommendations of others, there could be a way of incorporating highlights in the display with a variety of people’s recommendations (e.g. staff across the museum and wider public?), a bit like the staff recommendation shelves in bookstores in Oxford. This would add a personal touch to the display and provide opportunity for exhibiting new perspectives on the collections. Mentioning student research within an overall ‘research thread’ in the new display may help to promote student involvement in the museum and university relations both with anthropology and archaeology departments, but also potentially across the university and to other HEIs. Following the existing family consultation for the archaeology cases, specifc resources for families could be included in the design and content of the new Intro case. For example, a graphic panel in the bottom of the case could contain family-orientated text and images that links with the items on display above (e.g. a close up photo a material or texture to then identify as part of an object on display). The variety of motivations fts with the V&A interpretation model of three kinds of visitor engagement as ‘paddlers’ (less interested), ‘swimmers’ (moderately interested) and ‘divers’ (specialist interest). These response serve as a reminder to consider provide content for all three levels of engagement in the collections and text displayed.
II.ii What one thing stood out to you on your visit today?
WORD CLOUD VISITOR SURVEY
WORD CLOUD FROM PRM Screenshot of Trip Advisor scoring and top KIOSK 2016 three ‘TRAVELLERS TALK ABOUT’ quotes:
29 Discussion and Evaluation The above word cloud shows three of the ‘top objects’ most often associated with the museum: ‘shrunken heads’, ‘totem pole’ and ‘Egyptian muumy’; with ‘Noh Masks’ also been more frequently referenced in the survey results. The overall ‘arrangement’ of the displays and their ‘variety’ and ‘quantity’ were also signifcant - if these terms were combined they would be the most frequent ‘thing’ that stood out to the visitors surveyed. Comparing the word cloud to another word cloud generated from open-ended responses on the visitor kiosk in the Pitt Rivers Museum Court shows similar results, with the more general term ‘masks’ being more frequent, as well as ‘dinosaurs’ mentioned more (evidenting confusion between the PRM and musuem next door). This kiosk is self-selecting with visitors approaching and entering feedback on a self-iniated basis compared to the visitor survey. However the similarily between the two suggests the sample of visitors surveyed is relatively representative of the museum’s wider audience. The top phrases in the survey can also be compared with the top phrases as highlighted on the independent Trip Advisor website where ‘shrunken heads’ appears in the highest number of reviews, followed by ‘totem pole’ and reference to popular culture in the fctional archaeologist ‘Indiana Jones’ (see screenshot on previous page). Initial thoughts for recommendations Lots of the items referenced are visible on the frst foor indicating the importance of having key items in the Intro case to draw attention to the case, and to key messages the museum wants to communicate to introduce the museum, that may counter visitors’ pre-existing conceptions. One of the greatest challenges for the Intro case may be to shift visitors’ core understandings of the museum as being more (in substance and relevance) than its infamous collections of ‘shrunken heads’ and associated gore. This research confrms the enormity of this task and also suggests that a full ethical review of the display of tsantas may be necessary in order to achieve this - a refreshed Intro case is unlikely to counteract the pull of the ‘heads’ alone.
II.iii What does the museum mean to you? Why is it here?
% of responses in divided by categories of emotive, descriptive and active response terms/values
DESCRIPTIVE
ACTIVE TERMS EMOTIVE VALUE
30 Discussion and Evaluation This survey question had the broadest range of responses with a majority choosing to use - often emotively - value terms to talk about what the museum means to them (e.g. ‘love it’, ‘wonderful’, ‘excellent’ etc.) and a third choosing descriptive terms (e.g. ‘quantity’, ‘variety’, ‘architecture’). Dividing the responses into these categories helps to understand the values people attribute to the museum. The ‘active term’ category refers to visitors’ choosing words that show their participatory engagement in learning or refecting on the use of the space in the museum (e.g. ‘cross-cultural’, family-friendly’ and ‘don’t change’) in a way that suggests more activite engagement with key messages the museum is trying to convey. Interestingly, there was no mention of General Pitt-Rivers in the recorded responses to this question. Concepts of the cross-cultural and history were relatively present, but ideas of the university, education, knowledge, and colonialism were hardly mentioned which contradicts core aspects of the museum’s identity as a university museum conducting contemporary research and containing large quantities of collections associated with colonial discourse. Initial thoughts for recommendations The positive thoughts for the museum are striking, and all ways of responding to the museum (emotively, descriptively or actively) should be considered equally valid. However if the museum wants to challenge visitors to engage more actively with understanding why the museum exists today then the content and interpretation of the Intro case may be a suitable place to do this. Expressing emotive responses from other people connected with the collections (e.g. through projects working alongside indigenous peoples needs and interpretations) may actually be a fruitful way of engaging audiences with complex histories associated with many of the collections, and simultaneously highlighting contemporary university research.
II.iv Did you spot the ‘Welcome to the Pitt Rivers Museum’ case during your visit today?
Discussion and Evaluation As already mentioned in the survey summary at the beginning of this section, about a third of people (31%) said they spotted the Welcome case. Just under half of those surveyed (47%) were recorded as saying they didn’t notice, but comparing with the statistics from the mapping exercises above, nearly a ffth (18%) of this group likely walked past without identifying it as a Welcome case. The ‘pulling power’ of the current display is relatively high with almost two thirds (62%) of those walking past it stopping to have a closer look. (I.e. 44% of total museum visitors stopped at the Intro case). Initial thoughts for recommendations Some visitors suggested including better signage to the introduction case, including arrows on the foors or projected lights to help navigate visitors. Having the welcome sign on the top right, when most visits now approach from the left side of the case is likely to have an affect on whether people are able to identify it is an introductory case. The design of the current Intro case is already different to other display cases, being more text-heavy, having less objects on display, and having a large welcome sign hanging in it. Updating the display of the Intro case so that it stands out even more, and has a recognisible introductory features, like large printed images and a large text panel (with three paragaphs size font above 22pt) may help visitors instantly identify it as a place to get more information about the museum as a whole.
31 II.v What would you like more information about in the museum?
Discussion, Evaluation, Suggestions History about the museum was the most frequent response in the visitors surveyed. However, it is important to note that the second highest response was ‘nothing’ indicating a signifcant proportion of visitors felt they had enough information already. There were comments regarding a desire for more information than provided on the characteristic small labels the museum is known for, however this was usually coupled with an appreciation of these labels and for more information to be an additional layer rather than a replacement. General responses from the surveys are compared against the museum’s proposed key messages for the Intro case: • The museum is more than General Pitt-Rivers (only 7% of collection), and includes photographs, manuscripts, sound and flm recordings as well as objects. More information on General Pitt-Rivers did appear in the responses for more information among the surveyed visitors. No specifc mention was made of photograph, manuscript or flm collections, however mentions of audioguides and phone apps, alongside previous references to musical instruments suggests a limited awareness of the variety of media and photographic collections in the museum - confrming need to address this in the Intro case. • The typological foundations of the museum are uniquely useful today to critically refect on history and enable cross-cultural comparison of universal issues facing humanity Although typology not specifcally mentioned, ‘cross-cultural’ has come up as a recognised theme across the surveys, and the interest in history lends itself to this key message. • The museum is a dynamic, world-leading research institution in anthropology and archaeology, part of the University of Oxford (and GLAM?) More information for anthropology was mentioned but only one visitor expressed desire for more links made with University of Oxford and/or GLAM - while another called for a clearer separation of PRM from OUMNH. The Intro case could make academic connections more explicit. • The museum connects people and things through a web of local, national and international partnerships One visitor specifcally requested linking collections to external world more explicitly but this point could be better communicated by the museum in the Intro case.
32 • The museum displays are not static but constantly used, change over time, refect changes in anthropological thinking, and are actively shaping contemporary museum practice The high calls for the museum to ‘not change’ were generally accompanied with an assumption that the museum has not changed. Therefore it would be good for the Intro case to address this.
III. Drawing After answering the fve questions of the survey booklet, the visitor was then asked if they would like to ‘have a go at drawing the museum’. Only 29% of visitors took up the offer – a selection of their drawings are shown here. This research method was adopted from one used by Frankie Wilson in her user experience research training at the Ashmolean in late 2016. Having a black and a red pen and asking the visitor to switch colour pen half way through enables the identifcation of what the visitor drew frst. It helped break up the survey for our visitors (leading on to the page of self-selecting demographic categories) and was an opportunity for them to express themselves through a different medium while providing information on their observations in the museum without using words. However, high refusal rate together with the overall sample size suggest the drawings collated in our survey are perhaps not a representational sample for meaning in the Intro case. Visitors were asked questions when they were leaving the museum, so most drawings were completed from near the museum’s entrance which may have infuenced what they drew, although some illustrated objects not near the museum’s entrance (for example, the anorak).
Some drawings refected the architectural plan and overall displays.
33 Some drawings showed objects with framed by architectural features like these top two. Note how in the below image, the architecture was drawn frst and objects (heads and totem pole) second:
Other drawings picked out key objects that are also refected in the survey questions section (‘Totem pole’, ‘shrunken heads’, ‘Egyptian mummy’, clothing and musical instruments
34 IV. Demographic data The demographic data was set out as multiple choice that the visitor flled in themselves to break up the survey. We focused on the mapping exercise with follow-up questions to answer the specifc research questions we had about visitors use of the space, whether they noticed the Intro case, and to capture their impressions of the museum. The demographic data collected was designed to give an indication of the visitors, rather than statiscal record, including age range, how far they travelled to get to the museum, whether they like museums generally.
50% aged under 30 49% 22% aged 40-60 LOVE MUSEUMS 10% aged over 60 18% unrecorded >10% selected each other category: 36% tourists or frst-time visitors ‘I like museums’, 38% visit Oxford semi-regularly ‘museums are ok’ 9% live in Oxford and ‘someone 17% unrecorded dragged me here’
However we could have introduced more rigorous collecting methods for demographic data to enable the statistics produced to align with and contribute to existing visitor data stats. We would recommend including requests for full postcodes, and standardised indications of socio-economic status in all future surveys.
V. Refection: Summary and fnal thoughts on the survey booklets As part of their briefng we encouraged the volunteer surveyors to be refexive on whether they thought that what the visitors were saying matched with what they had observed them doing. We also conducted a group briefng session and encouraged them to discuss their fndings with each other to aim closer to a group consistency in methods and approach to recording. At the end of each survey slot we met with the volunteer(s) in a debriefng process to discuss each survey booklet, identify any issues, and to familiarise ourselves with general patterns as they emerged. The nature of the booklets and its relatively open-ended recording system, is that it acts as a net, capturing a wide range of ‘fsh’ or data – to much data than can be processed on a tight turn around. This is why we processed the data through the spreadsheets to record as much of the data as possible and extract only the most relevant parts for analysis in this written report. The spreadsheets are provided in the appendix in order to provide transparency on how data has been ‘cleaned’ by providing it in ‘raw data entry’ form and as edited summaries, and to give access to data for other analyses from the same data set in the future. The visual information from the mapping exercises have also been scanned, but layering the maps of visitor movement in the museum will also provide information on what areas of the museum are most or least visited. Finally, as this was qualitative research surveying the use of the museum court, lower and upper galleries, carried out over one week in early December, the sample size and window of research only offer a snapshot of museum audiences, outside of academic term time. If time had allowed, further surveys could have been conducted at a different time of year to help account for this. However, including summaries of existing audience research in this report has kept us more aware of potential wider concerns, and aligning some of our fndings with previous results has shown that the small sample we acquired does share many characteristics with existing recorded visitor feedback.
35 9. Formative Evaluation - Focus groups with target audiences
After the booklet surveys established that the Intro case still has footfall in its current location, and suggested some motivations of different visitors to the museum, the focus groups aimed to address the other two aims of the audience research that still required further input:
What collections, stories and messages do the museum’s target audiences engage with the most in the context of introducing the museum?
What display techniques do our audiences think will help attract people to the Intro case and interpret it?
Following the internal discussions developing the key messages, and summary of approach to incorporating audience research in the Interpretation Plan (see Part One, sections 3 and 4 in this report) a long-list of potential collections for display was developed by ZM. This long list was used as suggestions of collections for discussion in the focus groups, along with wider discussions on the key messages and display ideas through a practical activity of ‘Design your own Intro Case’ with discussion.
The two focus groups made use of existing networks in the museum and the opportunity to work closely with PRM colleagues who interpret the displays through activities with the public.
The frst focus group was with the Youth Action Team, working with Katherine Rose (KR) and Andy McLellan (AMcL) in the PRM Education Department on Saturday 21st January 2017. This group broadly aligns with the VERVE target group of young independent visitors to the museum. KR and AMcL also expressed how this activity also aligns with the remit of the group as both a creative activity and as one of their ‘behind-the-scenes style activities, gaining insight into professional practice at the museum, as well as acknowledging the museum’s valuing of group members’ opinions on the museum.
The second focus group was with the Meet Me at the Museum drop-in session for older audiences, working with VERVE Activities and Outreach Offcer, Beth McDougall (BMcD), on Monday 6th February 2017. This group aligns with the VERVE target group of older audiences and wider accessibilty, and we hoped the activity-based consultation would also provide an additional enrichment to the hands-on object-based activities and storytelling that usually take place in these sessions.
COLLECTIONS RELATED TO THE ARCHAEOLOGIST GENERAL PITT-RIVERS!
1884.140.93
1884.140.97 General Pitt-Rivers’ cork models of famous archaeological UK sites including Weyland Smithy. 1971.30.5 @ approx. 200%
1884.35.44 Saxon-Norman (11-13th 1971.30.5 Bronze medals used by General Pitt-Rivers century) pottery cooking for placing at the bottom of his excavations pot excavated by General Pitt-Rivers in Kent in 1878. to record the date of opening.
1884.121.11 Anglo-Saxon iron knife excavated by General Pitt-Rivers in Surrey
in 1877.
Photographs of General Pitt-Rivers
General Pitt-Rivers’ album of photographs and watercolours of Ancient MonumentsOur while he was the
frst Inspector of Ancient Monuments in the UK. 1884.140.587 Examples of materials provided
Stone Age French handaxe hafted into wooden handle made by Pitt Rivers to demonstrate how it was made and used. for focus groups - see Appendix for all materials
36 i. Youth Action Team focus group The Pitt Youth Action Team (YAT) is a group of young people aged between 14-19 who meet one Saturday a month to explore behind the scenes at the Museum, plan events for other young people and work on creative projects inspired by the Museum. Meetings are held on a drop-in basis for two hours (11am-1pm) and are relatively recent, starting in November 2016. KR and AMcL facilitated the Saturday 21st January 2017, with KC and ZM planning activities for this session where YAT members could creatively design their own versions of a display case to introduce the Pitt Rivers Museum, as a forum for discussion on the two research aims. Activity 1: Visit to the current Introduction case Summary and discussion The group were taken to the current display for an opening discussion, with starting questions such as ‘when do you think it installed?’, and to familiarize them with a sense of the scale of the case and what parts you can more easily see in situ, due to surrounding fxtures and lights. Members in the group quickly identifed that the display was about 15 years old (the presence of a model bicycle made of recycled CDs indicated it was less than twenty years old). Positive comments were made about the pie-chart and the variety of colours of the objects in the display. Questions were raised on the ‘readability’ of the display, especially with the ‘Welcome’ sign being initially out of sight on approach but also with the text scattered throughout the case and at all heights. The photograph of General Pitt-Rivers was also discussed along with the pros and cons of starting an Introduction to the museum with its founder when only 7% of the collections are now associated with him. Activity 2: Cut-and-paste activity ‘Design your own Intro case’ Summary and discussion Previous audience research has used mock-up cases with focus groups to help inform collections and display decisions. As the Intro Case is so large, the timeframe and resources limited, and as the collection selection criteria is more broad and conceptually- led (compared to displays of types of object), a paper-based cut-and-paste activity was devised to help produce similar results. In this activity prepared sheets of materials were made available to the group members for them to cut and stick onto a scaled outline of the display case. Once fnished, group members then shared their individual designs with the wider group discussing why they had included certain items and their decisions on their overall design. KC arranged the images of the potential collections in ZM’s working long-list onto ten A4 pages to approximate scale, in nine themed categories (displayed as titles at the top of each page) listed below: Objects in the existing ‘Welcome to the Pitt Rivers Museum’ display case Larger things to attract people to the case Small things to discover while looking at the case How to show collections: flm, photographs, and manuscripts? How to show collections that involve sound? Collections related to the archaeologist General Pitt-Rivers How to show the history of the museum and its displays? How to show pictures of activities, events and projects? (2 pages) Other ways to visually tell stories about the museum (video, maps, graphics)
37 The frst seven pages showed a series of images (to relative scale) listed with the object accession number and a one-line description. The four pages in the last three categories on ‘the history of the museum’, ‘activities, events and projects’ and ‘visual story telling’, used a mixture of images of accession items and non-accessioned photographs from various museum sources (blogs, museum reports, and provided by colleagues). Collectively, these categories helped to ensure the participants were thinking about identifed factors (scale of objects, categories of collection types, and a range of display tools) without needed more detailed specialist knowledge about the objects. It also helped us assess which of these categories they felt were more important to display in the museum. There were no restrictions on what collections they could choose and they were encouraged to use additional materials (coloured pencils, pens etc.) to add anything else that they wanted to include. ZM prepared one page of text in two columns which participants were also informed that they could select from and/or provide comments on the wording: Panel A – example three-paragraph introductory text Panel B – bulleted list of the range of activities, events and projects at the museum KC also created an outline of the museum display scale to the same approximate scale as the images of the collections, which were printed on two A3 pages and joined together in the middle.
Discussion and Evaluation Equipped with these paper resources, the group members quickly immersed themselves in task producing the results shown below:
38 Some general observations on these designs and the subsequent discussions: • All participants use the example of a large garment in their displays. Discussions around this included reference to its size, bright colours, and corporeal form, especially with its appearance with outstretched arms ‘as if welcoming visitors to the museum’ • All participants included photograph, manuscript and sound collections confrming the interpretation plan’s aim of exhibiting these items. • All participants used some kind of graphic. 50% used a world map, while 5/6 used a pie chart (sometime to indicate different catagories of collections, other time to distinguish the 7% founding collections from the rest of the museum’s collections). Two participants even chose to colour code the whole display as a pie chart structuring the case display to show the small percentage of the founding collection with bigger impact. • All participants prioritised the reading of the case from the right-hand side, either placing an attention-grabbing A/V screen on the right or a large object, to attract people’s attention went entering the museum at the bottom of the stairway. • 5/6 participants included AV technology (a screen) in their designs • 4/6 depicted a large text panel in the top left window with the key introductory text in three paragraphs, while the other two distributed the text in paragraphs across the display. One participant mentioned that shorter sentences and paragraphs are easier to understand for people with dsylexia. • All participants included photographs from events, activities and behind-the-scenes work, placing this content either on the far left or far right panels of the case. Research was perceived as being present in all of these. • 5/6 included historic views of the museum in their displays (one included these as part of a scrolling slide show on an AV screen). Most put historic images close to the introductory text panel on the left, however, after one participant included a visual timeline that extended out of the case group discussion led to the idea of a visual timeline of historic photographs of the museum across the top of the case.
The diagram below depicts a visual summary of the YAT workshop outcomes:
IDEA CONCEPT 1: Displays continually changing - VISUAL and TEXT timeline at top of case (images picked for this area supported by visitor research, if possible preference for images that also have people in)
IDEA CONCEPT 2: One main text panel (3 introductory paragraphs and 19th Century Early 20th Century Late 20th Century Early 21st Century VISUALS including graphics and images) WELCOME WHATS ON End window focus The Museum’s worldwide collections are extremely varied – you can see photographs, manuscripts, flm and sound recordings – as well as objects. The collections mainly focus on different aspects of human beings daily lives, including the ceremonial and religious. They highlight how varied ‘the on current activity at everyday’ is in different parts of the world including diversity in the age, size, and types of objects; the materials they are made from; and the broad range of the people who made them. AV SCREEN Museum - all easy to replace so it can be kept up to date.
Staff and the collections have always been involved teaching and research, a condition of the founding collection being for the University to appoint a permanent anthropology lecturer. This was Edward Burnett Tylor (1832–1917) often described as the ‘father of anthropology’, who continued to add to the collections. You will also fnd material from other anthropologists, plus archaeologists, colonial administrators, missionaries, other museums, travellers, and the people who created them. AV screen with
Visitors often assume the Museum remains unchanged since 1884 when General Pitt-Rivers (1877–1900) donated the items he obtained mainly from auctions. The founding collection actually rotating short flms forms no more than 7% of the objects and none of the displays actually only contain General Pitt-Rivers artefacts. In reality staff and others have always added to the collections and continued to improve the displays. Organised mainly by purpose and type the displays provide you with an opportunity to view global differences and similarities, whether of masks, metalwork, or musical and images asked for instruments etc. in audience research
‘ADULT’ CONTENT ‘ADULT’ across all ages. We know it may not be possible by PITT-RIVERS end of September IDEA CONCEPT 3: COLLECTIONS but a space should COLLECTIONS be reserved for Start with Pitt-Rivers this (perhaps a collections in bottom left temporary poster (e.g. mainly bought auction of same dimensions & things excavated & A FEW SMALLER OBJECTS AT DISCOVERY LEVEL used until then). published by Pitt-Rivers to FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES link with new archaeology displays)
Take a child-friendly details and close-ups closer look... of things to fnd in display above CONTENT ‘FAMILY’
IDEA CONCEPT 4: Collections displayed in a roughly chronological order/storyline as emphasized on label (labels MUSICAL OBJECTS will include images to expand on text e.g. photo of collector or including sound fle of what object recent research activity) sounds like. This example also references LESS OBJECTS and BIGGER items to attract people to case e.g. existing trail on WWI which is a way ACROSS COLLECTIONS (represent ‘welcoming’ cloak as confrmed through audience research to get people using this space (limited flm, sound, manuscript, photos) and access to item in current display current) NEW ACQUISITIONS
39 Initial thoughts for recommendations Five concepts for the display were deduced as suggestions from the frst focus group workshop, illustrated in the diagram above and listed here: 1) Show how the museum has changed over time be including a visual timeline in the top section of the case 2) Include one main text panel on the left hand side with clear, concise paragraphs and graphics incorporated into it. 3) Start with the General Pitt-Rivers collections below the main text panel and mark them as founding collections using a colour coding system (either paint background different colour or use different colours on object text labels) 4) Include a variety of collections across the span of the display case, using the theme of research (across time and space) as a thread to connect collections with events, projects and behind-the-scenes work on illustrated text labels.
Object handling session as part of Meet Me at the Museum ii. Meet Me at the Museum focus group Meet Me at the Museum (MMatM) is an opportunity for older people and those living with Dementia to bring their curiosity and their continued thirst for learning to the Pitt Rivers. Every frst Monday of the month the open group have been spending two hours together touring the galleries and handling objects that tell the story of the museum and bring to life the cultures behind the objects. On Monday 6th February ZM and KC joined BMcD, preparing a group activity to discuss ideas for the Intro case to run alongside the usual object handling and museum tour. While one half of the group accompanied BMcD on the tour, the other half stayed in the Lecture Theatre with ZM and KC for the Intro Case activity, and the two groups swapped for the second part of the session. Summary and discussion Following the success of the previous workshop with the YAT we decided to repeat the activity with this group. However, considering that we would need to do the activity twice in one sitting in half the time, we decided to run the discussion as a group workshop with one large scale model of the case, and lamentated, larger images of collections. The same workshop sheets were prepared with minor alterations (refecting updates in the collections long list) and two reference sets were printed at twice the size (A3) to increase visibility in a group setting. ZM and KC joint led discussion using same structured handouts to talk about what types of collections people would like to see in a new Intro case display. The text documents were also updated to include three versions of an introductory text structured in three paragraphs and in different font sizes, for general comments.
40 Photograph above shows the mock-up case outline and laminated collections images at approximate scale used in the workshop
Discussion and Evaluation Some general observations on these designs and the subsequent discussions: • The large garment was a popular choice again. With similar discussions on its size, bright colours, and corporeal form, especially with its welcoming appearance with outstretched arms, as well as linking to the proximity of the textiles cases further along the wall from the display case location. • Photographs, manuscript and sound collections were favourably talked about especially the potential of linking collections to each other, and bringing sound to ‘silenced’ objects like the WWI mandolin. • Collections that link to early twentieth century history - especially WWI and WWII - were suggested as stories for objects for people to relate to. • Group members were keen on the idea of including AV technology (a screen) and probably on the right hand side to attract most attention. • Graphics were mentioned less - discussions about including a world map acknowledged how many objects are linked to more than one place (as objects in motion and as raw materials), and that it might therefore be diffcult to use a map in the display without including its multiple sites of reference, especially when the focus of the case is particularly broad. • Text panel option no. 1 (ZM) in a font >22pt. was favoured. • Photographs showing behind-the-scenes work particularly favoured. • There was a strong call for the display to be family-friendly with the reasons behind collections chosen often mentioning the phrase ‘that would be good for the children’. This included suggestions of the using the gameboards (snakes and ladders) and animal forms that attract children’s attention in the lower sections of the display case. An internal museum idea to include a graphic panel at the bottom of the case specifcally for children - which had developed on refections from the frst workshop - was welcomed as a good idea.
41 CURATORIAL CONCEPT FOR INTRO CASE TO PASS TO DESIGN TECHNICIANS
IDEA CONCEPT 1: Displays have changed over time - VISUAL and TEXT timeline at top of case (images picked for this area supported by visitor research, if possible preference for images that also have people in)
IDEA CONCEPT 2: One main text panel (3 introductory
IDEA CONCEPT : paragraphs and WHATS ON including graphics and images) AV screen with
19th Century Early 20th Century Late 20th Century Early 21st Century rotating short flms and images asked for
VISUALS in audience research
TEXT TEXT TEXT WELCOME TEXT TEXT TEXT across all ages. TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT The Museum’s worldwide collections are extremely varied – you can see photographs, manuscripts, TEXT TEXT TEXT We know it may flm and sound recordings – as well as objects. The collections mainly focus on different aspects of TEXT TEXT TEXT human beings daily lives, including the ceremonial and religious. They highlight how varied ‘the TEXT TEXT TEXT everyday’ is in different parts of the world including diversity in the age, size, and types of objects; TEXT TEXT TEXT the materials they are made from; and the broad range of the people who made them. TEXT TEXT TEXT AV SCREEN not be possible by TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT end of September TEXT TEXT (SILENT) TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT but a space should TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT be reserved for TEXT TEXT Staff and the collections have always been involved teaching and research, a condition of the founding collection being for the University to appoint a permanent anthropology lecturer. This was TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT this (perhaps a Edward Burnett Tylor (1832–1917) often described as the ‘father of anthropology’, who continued TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT to add to the collections. You will also fnd material from other anthropologists, plus archaeologists, TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT colonial administrators, missionaries, other museums, travellers, and the people who created them. TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT temporary poster Visitors often assume the Museum remains unchanged since 1884 when General Pitt-Rivers (1877–1900) donated the items he obtained mainly from auctions. The founding collection actually forms no more than 7% of the objects and none of the displays actually only contain General of same dimensions Pitt-Rivers artefacts. In reality staff and others have always added to the collections and continued to improve the displays. Organised mainly by purpose and type the displays provide you with an opportunity to view global differences and similarities, whether of masks, metalwork, or musical used until then). instruments etc.
End window focus on current activity at TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT CONTENT ‘ADULT’ Museum - all easy to TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT replace so it can be PITT-RIVERS TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT kept up to date. TEXT TEXT COLLECTIONS TEXT TEXT IDEA CONCEPT 3: TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT COLLECTIONS INCLUDING Start with Pitt-Rivers DISPLAY FOR collections in bottom MUSEUM BOO S left clearly marked by a TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT different colour or display TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT from other non-founding TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT collections (e.g. mainly bought auction & things (e.g. detail e.g. ‘have excavated & published by Take a child-friendly lecturn labels including activities DESIGNED WITH of drum you see the Pitt-Rivers to link with new closer look... museum out archaeology displays) EDUCATION (Cirriculum based ) above) and about ’ ‘FAMILY’ CONTENT ‘FAMILY’
OBJECT LABEL IDEA CONCEPT 4: ACADEMIC RESEARCH IS THE THREAD FOR DRUM CONNECTING ALL LABELS and will include images to expand on text e.g. photo of collector or recent research activity. MUSICAL OBJECTS Text about signifcance of including sound fle of what object EXAMPLE LABEL drum and how it LESS OBJECTS and BIGGER items to attract people to case e.g. sounds like. This example also references (Text still to be represents ongoing ‘welcoming’ cloak as confrmed through audience research existing trail on WWI which is a way written as themes relationships and staf research both to get people using this space (limited need to be decided in and outside the CROSS COLLECTIONS (represent flm, sound, manuscript, access to item in current display current) with all staff) museum (illustrated photos) and NEW ACQUISITIONS on right).
The diagram above depicts a revised visual summary incorporating the MMatM workshop outcomes
Initial thoughts for recommendations The same fve concepts from the previous workshop still applied, and so were continued in the visual diagram above with following additions: 6) Stronger call to include illustrated text labels to make stronger connections between collections and museum projects, activities and behind-the-scenes work. (E.g. A Haida object could have a photograph of recent project work with Haida community on text label; Pitt-Rivers’ model of Wayland Smithy could include photograph of Beatrice Blackwood at Wayland Smithy on its text label; an object that has recently been viewed could have a photograph of a researcher looking at in the research room on its text label) 7) Make sure all texts are readable in large font sizes and placed within heights accessible for adults and children. 8) Think more about developing a graphic panel at the bottom of the case that includes family-friendly details and alternative text for thinking about the collections in the display case. For example, include a detailed photograph of the texture or materials of one of the objects.
Final comments on focus group outcomes The visual diagrams of the workshop outcomes included above were helpful for consolidating ideas arising in the workshop with existing internal ideas. They are not intended to be read as designs for the intro case layouts, more as visual records of the ideas raised through the audience research.
42