The Museum Experience

by Falk,John H

• ISBN13: 9781611320275
• ISBN10: 1611320275
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-01-15
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

Summary

As the first book to take a "visitor's eye view" of the museum visit, The Museum Experience revolutionized the way museum professionals understand their constituents. Falk and Dierking integrate their original research from a wide variety of disciplines as well as visitor studies from institutions ranging from science centers and zoos to art and natural history museums. Written in clear, non-technical style, The Museum Experience paints a thorough picture of why people go to museums, what they do there, how they learn, and what museum practitioners can do to enhance these experiences. This book is an essential reference for all museum professionals and students of museum studies, and has been used widely for higher education courses in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., and has been translated into Japanese and Chinese. Originally published in 1992, the book is now available from Left Coast Press, Inc. as of November 2010.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Introduction: The Interactive Experience Model	p. 1
Before the Visit
The Museum as a Leisure-Time Experience	p. 11
The Personal Context: Visitor Agendas	p. 25
During the Visit
The Social Context: Groups in the Museum	p. 41
The Physical Context: Visitor Pathways	p. 55
The Physical Context: Exhibits and Labels	p. 67
The Interplay of Contexts: The Museum as Gestalt	p. 83
The Museum Visit Remembered
Museum Learning Defined	p. 97
Understanding the Museum Experience	p. 115
A Professional's Guide to the Museum Experience
Creating the Museum Experience	p. 129
Creating Museum Experiences for Casual Visitors	p. 135
Creating Museum Experiences for Organized Groups	p. 151
Appendix	p. 163
References	p. 171
Annotated Bibliography	p. 197
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.