The CT Cultural Consumers Study examined 1) how Connecticut heritage institutions become community institutions and 2) what makes community members think an institution is important and worthy of support. 24 cultural institutions participated in the project, representing a variety of institution types: art museums, history museums, historic houses, science museums, children's museums, and performing arts groups. In the executive summary for this project, readers will find information relating to CT museum goers demographics, leisure time...
What do people want from history exhibits? In 2002-3, the Connecticut Historical Society wanted to find out what potential visitors say they want to experience, feel, do, or think about in a history museum. We hired a firm (SonicRim) that tests consumers before new products or store designs are put in place. The firm searched for patterns in audience wishes, and focused on the experience as a whole, not specific features of a design or...
Microsoft Office Professional.Not $400.Not $300.Not $200.You can get it for the low, low price of $20.00!!No, this is not a late night infomercial. This is TechSoup, the premier supplier of hardware, software and up to date technology information for non profit organizations.TechSoup offers donated and discounted technology products for nonprofits and public libraries. You can choose from over 340 products from companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, and Symantec.The Web site includes up to date article...
When it comes to exceeding audience expectations at your museum, the big question might not be "who?" but "why?"According to Thriving in the Knowledge Age, studies reveal that people who visit museums (either alone or in groups) are goal orientated and are motivated with a specific outcome in mind.By matching the needs of each of the five types of visitor (and visitors can change groups depending on the museum), a museum can succeed in meeting...
Cohen and Rosenzweig, two historians from George Mason University's Center for History and New Media, have created an excellent primer for going online. Digital History covers all the basics--how the web works, how to design a website, how to build an audience, and how to add interactivity to your site. But this isn't your standard tech book. This tech book is for the history community. Chapters examine digitizing historical documents, maximizing the accessibility of online...
Museum 2.0 explores how "Web 2.0 can be applied in museums to make them more engaging, community-based, vital elements of society." Launched in November of 2006, Nina Simon's blog should be a must read for anyone interested in integrating technology into the museum experience. She believes that "museums have the potential to transform from static content authorities to dynamic platforms for content generation and sharing...[where] visitors can become users, and museums central to social interactions."...
