Membership Options: Strangers Included?

Every once in a while, I find myself in a round of “Fantasy Museum. “The rules are simple: What would I try if money and practicality were no object? A lot of my ideas are predictably extreme, but more than once those impossible ideas have filtered down into something plausible and even reasonable. The other day I…

Now With Slightly More Swedish

I’m so pleased to share that my recent piece, “Telling Stories with Invisible Objects,” was republished by Riksutställningar, The Swedish Exhibition Agency - and in Swedish, too! Att organisera berättelser kring föremål verkar vettigt i utställningsform. Men i en podcast eller ett öde landskap? SPANA:s gästskribent Katie Bowell skriver om konsten att bygga berättelser kring det som…

Un-Prompted Visitor-Contributed Content: An Example

While working on a new evaluation project with the Freiburg Museum Natur und Mensch, I’ve come across an interesting example of how un-prompted visitor-contributed content can work. In the temporary exhibit “Letzte Ölung Nigerdelta,” one room invites visitors to sit and watch a projected series of photographs exploring the social, economical, and environmental affects of the oil industry…

Creative Processes

The more ways I involve myself in creative projects, the more how see how much of the creative process is the same, regardless of your final products and goals. This video about Dustin Lance Black’s storytelling process focuses on screenwriting, but it could just as well be about how we tell tales in museums. “Figuring out why. Not…

Tips for Developing Multi-Language Labels - Part 3

Be sure to read Part 1 and Part 2. Note: While I’ve divided these steps into sections, when you’re developing new language resources chances are that many of the tasks from Part 2 will happen concurrently with the ones in Part 3. Part 3: When It’s Time For Layout and Design (1) Use a Standard Order When labels will…

Tips For Developing Multi-Language Labels - Part 2

Find Part 1 here. Part 2: When You’re Ready to Write (1) Identify Language Form(s) Once you’ve established your target languages and begun connecting with those communities, you need to identify the appropriate language forms. No language is neutral or only has one pan-global form. So will it be British or American English? High German or…

Tips For Developing Multi-Language Labels - Part 1

Since moving to Germany, I’ve developed a keenly-tuned English-language radar. No snippet - spoken or written - is too small to escape my notice, and I delight when I find them. Along with hunting for moments of my mother tongue, I’m helping create them. I’m involved in several projects exploring different ways to incorporate English…