INTRODUCTION
In his 1944 work, Democracy and Education, John Dewey explains that, “Education is not an affair of telling or being told but an active and constructive process.” Such an insightful statement is especially meaningful for the museum community. Museums, as well as all cultural institutions, cannot merely present information to their users. In order for visitors to gain knowledge effectively, institutions must enable them to become actively involved in the learning process. In recent decades the need for such constructive learning has been realized as museums increasingly incorporate interactive experiences into exhibitions and develop supplementary programming.
While effective within the museum, such methods may not typically encourage users to continue the active learning process outside of the institution. If learning is to continue beyond the museum, it may be useful to investigate techniques to aid the visitor to develop the knowledge and interest base created by the exhibitions. This study will explore the types of interests created by an exhibition. In order to assist their visitors in learning, a museum must first recognize the types of information that appeal to them. The study will also assist in bringing museums and libraries together by providing visitors with a bibliography of related materials.
Museums have been recognized as the most popular cultural institutions visited by Americans. According to the American Association of Museums (AAM), museum attendance grew by over two hundred million visitors in the 1990s. Forty percent of today’s museums were built after 1970, further illustrating the increasing public demand for such institutions. As Americans continue to swarm to museums, these important institutions must work harder to appreciate and educate the diversity of individuals present within their exhibitions. Such efforts are clear in increasing visitor surveys and evaluations. Museums have begun to examine what visitors want, how they learn, and where they come from. They use this information to make exhibitions more entertaining and more educational.
The increased focus on education is evident within intensified AAM accreditation standards, which require enhanced educational programming. The school field trip is an established aspect of the museum community. While today over $193 million is still spent nationwide on school programs, increased attention has been placed on non-school programs. Today about eighty percent of museums have developed programming for the independent learner and the family audience. Such newly developed methods include interactive exhibitions, discovery rooms, demonstration centers, lectures, and theater programs.
Once again, however, little progress has been made in encouraging visitors to continue the active learning process beyond the museum environment. While museums often question visitors about what type of exhibitions they would like to see, they rarely inquire about what visitors might like to know more about following the experience of visiting an exhibition. Therefore, a study such as this is useful to the future development of such independent learning programs. The study specifically asks, what kinds of information are museum visitors likely to want after seeing Sebastião Salgado’s photography exhibition, “Migrations: Humanity in Transition?”
Such data is beneficial to museums in understanding what information is useful to its users. In order to provide visitors with the tools needed to actively learn outside the museum, they must first establish what visitors want to learn more about. With an accurate understanding of user needs, they may begin to encourage visitors to enhance their information-seeking behaviors. Such behaviors will produce more informed museum audiences; thereby, improving the museum environment as a whole. This study also attempts to build connections between the museum environment and the library. As Cheryl Bartholow points out in a 1999 Museum News article, museums and libraries have much in common. “Both house and display valuable objects and documents relating to art, history, natural history, and science. Both develop educational programs for and provide access to research and scholarly collections. Both work with local school systems to educate the younger members of society.” Museums and libraries must take advantage of such similarities, in order to enhance the learning experiences of their users. Congress encouraged such collaboration in 1996, when it transformed the Institute of Museum Services into the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). In 1998, IMLS awarded the first National Leadership awards to institutions modeling such innovative collaborative efforts.
While such measures are increasing throughout the nation, museums and libraries must continue to encourage patrons to actively learn from both types of institutions. This study promotes such learning by reminding visitors that the myriad of questions racing through their mind as they walk through an exhibition (Who is Sebastião Salgado? What kinds of lighting did he use? How can I help the individuals depicted in the photography?) can be answered. Where? At the library!
Overall, by examining information-seeking behaviors of visitors viewing the Sebastião Salgado exhibition, “Migrations: Humanity in Transition,” at the Ackland Art Museum, this study will demonstrate the need for the increased promotion of independent learning. It will address the need John Dewey spoke of by encouraging museum users to actively pursue greater knowledge.