This chapter consists of the following sections:
Museums collect and preserve original artefacts (works of art, material culture objects) and disseminate knowledge about them to the public, mainly by mounting exhibitions. Typically, exhibitions are interpretations of collections or parts thereof. They relate a number of original artefacts or art works with various types of documentation (informational labels, captions, maps, dioramas etc.) within a spatial organization scheme, in order to provide visitors with a fruitful and pleasing learning experience. The functions of a museum exhibition can be categorized as:
- social, whereby it provides a powerful focus for the construction of social identity for its public
- affective, whereby it creates a concrete visual experience which gives esthetic pleasure and which leads to emotional and motivational rewards
- cognitive, whereby it provides an environment for self-education, an opportunity for visitors to teach themselves through exposure to the exhibitions.
Questions related to the cognitive function of museum exhibitions include the following:
Does the structure of the exhibition enhance the artefacts? Does it help visitors to appreciate them?
Can visitors find what they want within the exhibition ?
Is the museum visit a coherent experience, or is it just a collection of unrelated chunks of information?
Is the exhibition successful in stimulating learning, i.e. the acquisition of new knowledge, concepts, perceptual skills and attitudes directly attributable to the exhibition experience?
Can any set of presentation techniques be effective for the wide variety of visitor knowledge, backgrounds, and objectives which characterize museum publics?
Lacota (Lacota, 1976, p. 245-279) suggests that the cognitive impact of an exhibition may be drastically improved by the adoption of learning support techniques. Providing a clear conceptual frame of reference for what an exhibition is about, what it has to do with visitors, how it is organized and what they can expect to learn from it, it will actually improve their capacity to enjoy the exhibition through discovery and help them to understand what it is they discovered. Multimedia, especially interactive multimedia and hypermedia, presents considerable advantages as an exhibition learning support technology:
It can deliver a wide variety of heterogeneous information related to the exhibitions, including photographic images, drawings and plans, architectural models, simulations, video clips, music, narrated commentary, textual information (labels, captions, even essays) and data- base records.
It may provide visitors with a mechanism to view only the subset of such information that is appropriate to their interests and background, thus catering for different visitor profiles.
The use of multimedia technologies in exhibitions raises, however, the following concerns:
It may divert visitor attention from the actual artefacts exhibited.
It may encourage interaction styles not appropriate to the museum setting.
It may infringe upon the non-technological atmosphere of the exhibition.
It may alienate those visitors who are not computer literate.
The appropriateness and success of multimedia in an exhibition depends on an understanding of its potential advantages and shortcomings, as was the case, in earlier times, with traditional visitor support systems (handouts, informational captions, audio playback units, projection systems, feedback-response devices, etc.). In fact, the conception and design of multimedia applications for exhibition can be seen from two complementary viewpoints: the contextual viewpoint of the museum exhibition as a whole, and the structural viewpoint of the multimedia application as an object in itself. The former provides a functional context for the latter.
Multimedia in Exhibition Design
Defining the concept of an exhibition involves decisions about its purpose (what the exhibition aims to achieve), content (what objects and/or interpretive concepts are used), structure (linear, based on discovery), target public (children, local visitors, tourists) and communication approach (object-led, interpretive). Then, in concept development, specific decisions have to be taken about the storylines, media and actual exhibits used, including the development of multimedia applications to support the exhibition. Some important principles suggest themselves, regarding exhibition design:
A chaotic exhibition, whereby the visitor is not presented with a coherent path of traversal, often leads to information overload or a feeling of getting lost.
On the other hand, visual monotony leads often to visitor fatigue; when relatively homogeneous artefacts have to be presented, this tends to be a considerable problem.
Prior knowledge of what is contained in a museum exhibition and how it is structured leads to a more satisfactory visitor experience.
However, rather than strictly controlling the learning process, individual museum exhibits provide the information necessary for visitors to apply their own learning skills with greater effectiveness. Visitors enjoy being offered guided tours of an exhibition, especially if they can ask their own questions to the guide and have some choice over the sequence of exhibits visited. Visitors benefit from reading or attending lectures about specific aspects of the theme of an exhibition, both before and after their visit. Affective or sensory arousal, positive or negative, heightens the capacity of visitors for learning. These principles affect the totality of exhibition design, including the educational and other activities used to support exhibitions, signage and written documentation, etc. Yet they also identify potential functions for the application of multimedia technology in exhibition, as listed in the following paragraphs.
Multimedia applications, typically installed in the form of kiosks near the entrance of an exhibition, can provide visitors with an effective way of understanding what an exhibition is about, what parts it consists of and how they can get there. The purpose of such applications is to improve physical orientation, typically at the beginning of a visit.
For these applications to serve better than the traditional brochure with a brief introduction and plan of the exhibition, such kiosk applications could provide:
A clear focus on the purpose and scope of the exhibition, possibly in the form of an attractor loop.
Short introductions to the main parts of the exhibition, illustrating key objects and artifacts and thus arousing visitors interest.
Alternative main indexes (e.g. thematic, artist's names, provenance) to the exhibitions content, apart from that determining the physical layout of the exhibition.
Clear instructions about how to get from the kiosk to the gallery.
The following recommendations may be appropriate for such index exhibitions:
While they can offload the work of an information front desk, they should be seen as complementary to human assistance rather than as an alternative.
They should be designed to allow visitors to retrieve orientation information within a few minutes and should avoid unnecessary detail.
They should be installed in an adequate number of kiosks near the entrance, or, in large exhibitions, in areas where visitors decide chose a route to take, with visitor flow as a major consideration.
Multimedia technology can complement the function of human guides, audio support and loop antenna systems in providing learning support to visitors in an exhibition. Applications functioning as visitor guides may be installed at the entrance of an exhibition (accessible also after the visit), as in the case of the Micro Gallery of the National Gallery in London; distributed in a number of access points in the exhibition itself, as in the Networked World exhibition of the Boston Computer Museum; or, accessible through devices carried around by visitors, as in the portable CD-ROM system by the Isle of Man museum for visitors of monuments of the island.
In order to enhance the visitors', these applications can provide:
Interesting and lucid scripted essays on selected themes, supplemented by relevant and good quality audio-visual material that improves the understanding of the exhibits themselves.
A straight-forward method of interaction allowing visitors easy access to information that interests them and that relates to the immediate (physical) exhibition context.
A carefully selected set of alternative points of view on the exhibition for different segments of the public, possibly personified through appropriate characters, and matched to different levels of background and interests.
Personalized exhibition plans, which can be printed, suggesting an itinerary through galleries of interest for specific visitors and allowing the visitors to know where they are at each point.
Printed summaries of selected information, including illustrated pages of information to be consulted during a visit.
Some specific problems that may relate to this type of application, depending on its conception and design, are:
The visitor flow problems associated with visitors monopolizing information stations for long periods of time, especially when they are situated near the entrance of the exhibition.
The unwanted intrusion (in terms of atmosphere) of interactive stations installed within the galleries. For this reason few are likely to support sound.
The high cost of portable devices designed to be carried around by visitors.
Multimedia as Study Collection
In visitor surveys (Lacota, 1976. p. 245-279) it has been noted that people not only "wanted to see more specimens, but apparently they understood more, learned more and enjoyed it more when there was more to see". In fact, significant applications of multimedia technology, for example in the National Museums of Denmark and the Imperial War Museum, aim to provide visitors with access to material not on display. These applications are a crossing between a virtual study collection without the associated conservation problems and an illustrated catalogue of the collection, albeit with more powerful information retrieval capabilities and, possibly, better quality images.
The following concerns may be raised about this class of applications:
In order to be more useful than printed illustrated catalogues, they need to provide excellent quality images throughout, and well-researched textual captions for works included.
Particularly if initially conceived as applications for the museum specialist (Goldstein and Renard, 1994, p. 7), they require the adoption of simple user interfaces and appropriate content to be accessible to the public.
Since research depends on integrated scholarly information on museum collections, they are best implemented as front ends to museum information systems conceived as a whole, rather than as stand-alone applications.
Discussion should not be limited by the linear catalogue format but exploit associative links to allow full hypertext navigation between artefacts or works of art, people, events, places and concepts.
As they aim greatly to the visual appreciation of parts of the collections which are otherwise not accessible, they should be enhanced with high-quality projection facilities so that groups of visitors can share in experiencing their content.
Traditional museum exhibitions are often criticized for not supporting visitors with background information and thus precluding them from enriching their understanding of the exhibition. Good museums (traditional and otherwise) attempt to mitigate this problem by publishing educational material, exhibition guides, and by organizing lecture series coordinated with their exhibition program. Multimedia technology, in its role as explainer, has to compete with these complementary forms of interpretation. It may do so most effectively by providing:
A clear storyline and definition of subject matter, appropriate and necessary to illustrate an essential point about the content of the exhibition.
An easy to use user interface, which does not interfere between visitors and the content of the application and which allows visitors to navigate simply and efficiently between different parts of the application.
An appropriate approach suited to different types of visitors, facilitating the retrieval (direct or indirect) of information relevant to their particular background and interests.
A good and quiet setting, near but not necessarily next to the relevant exhibits, which will stimulate visitors to think about the content rather than about the technology.
Depending on the nature of the application, facilities for annotating and printing appropriate information.
Last but not least, good quality content: textual, visual, audio.
Multimedia applications that act as explainers of specific exhibits or gallery themes will exploit different metaphors for organizing content. They may include monograph collections of textual and visual information, hierarchically arranged, such as the Classical art videodiscs installed in the Greek galleries of the Louvre. They could also include role playing dramatizations, such as them hunting game in the Life in the Arctic videodisc that accompanied the exhibition of the same name in the Museum of Mankind in London, and simulations, such as that of a three species habitat (and many others) in the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Other promising technologies for furthering visitor's understanding this purpose include virtual reality and computer graphic reconstruction, construction and manipulation games (such as archaeological dig simulations), video-on-demand applications with material relevant to specific galleries, holographic displays, etc.
There are no fixed rules on the applicability of each of these metaphors for explanation of museum exhibitions; the choices have to be made according to the purpose, content and intended public of the exhibition. Where consultation of comparative material (visual, textual, etc.) is paramount -for instance in the case of art history - hypermedia applications are more appropriate. Where the emphasis is on explaining processes that underlay the production of the material culture simulation and role playing may be more relevant.
If the exhibition is addressed mainly to children, symbols and user metaphors more familiar to them could be used to catch their interest: humorous, cartoon-like creatures are used in interactives in the Noorder Dierenpark (Netherlands) in order to teach children about evolution. In all cases however, the conception and design of multimedia applications should be undertaken as part of the whole exhibition design process rather than as an isolated technical task.
ÿ Multimedia as Emotive Trigger
Advances in computer graphics, immersive environments and virtual reality technology provide the tools for the construction of highly affective sensory experiences. These experiences, that may involve a high degree of interaction, could function as triggers to heighten visitors interest and involvement in the message of an exhibition. This is done very effectively in the Holocaust Museum and Memorial in Washington, DC, albeit through simpler means: the use of shocking projected images and narration in the exhibition, and the identification of the visitor with an individual victim of the Holocaust, whose fate can be traced after the visit in the associated data base.
Virtual reality experiences (e.g. fully rendered 3-D architectural reconstructions of archaeological sites such as the tomb of Nefertari, commissioned by the Getty Conservation Institute), manipulation games and role playing or simulation applications (such as the ship building application in the Vasa Museum of Stockholm) may be useful as strong emotive triggers.
In the Collectors of South Pacific videodisc exhibition in the City Museums of Birmingham, visitors are invited to identify with one of four different characters and thus develop personal involvement in the subject of the exhibition. Little evaluation experience, however, exists yet on how effective multimedia is for this purpose. Skeptics question the appropriateness of such an approach, especially for art museums.
Museum educators have traditionally used of question sheets, quizzes and revision summaries as well as pre- and post-exhibition question labels (e.g. of the form 'what similarity exists between these two artefacts?') to engage visitors attention. Given its history in computer-based training and other educational applications, multimedia appears well placed to provide a useful and rich way of enhancing the visitors learning potential, especially after the visit, through the use of similar devices.
Typically, the a computer quiz poses questions, elicits responses from the visitor, and presents new pages of information (according to the programmed learning approach). Possibly a score is given at the end of the "quiz". Little is known of this evaluative approach in the museum context. there are strong arguments against the use of marking as a (negative) incentive for learning, in favour of a more creative, resource-based approach.
Multimedia in Existing Exhibitions
The introduction of multimedia applications to an existing exhibition is a pragmatic issue for many museums. This process however should be part of a comprehensive approach to exhibition updating, and should address demonstrable shortcomings of the exhibition; it should not be the result of mere availability of resources or technological fashion. Typically, evaluation of an exhibition's impact (through survey, focus group research or other means) may indicate one or more of the following problems, that may be addressed through the use of multimedia exhibitions:
The purpose and scope of the exhibition (i.e. what the exhibition is about) is not apparent to visitors.
The organizational scheme of the exhibition is not clear (i.e. visitors cannot find easily what they want).
Visitors are not able to appreciate the multiple contexts of objects exhibited (e.g. functional, symbolic, stylistic, typological), and such a multidimensional understanding is considered appropriate.
Visitors are not able to retain information that they encountered in the exhibition for a longer period.
These problems which may be typical among casual visitors, serious visitors may suffer less. Casual visitors may be under-represented in visitor survey statistics. Multimedia technology may be an appropriate solution, but it should be evaluated against other visitor support systems. Often, successful exhibitions that fulfil their mission to their designated public are better left alone.
Questions have been raised about the appropriate place to install multimedia in museums. Arguments for setting multimedia exhibitions separately from the exhibited objects focus on the potential disruption, in terms of visitor flow and mode of interaction created by the presence of technology in the galleries. In general this argument holds true where a small number of interactives are placed in (mostly art) galleries, providing a target for fast fingered and noisy children and a nuisance to adults trying to have a contemplative viewing experience. On the other hand the consistent and integrated use of in-gallery interactives in the Haus der Geschichte in Bonn suggests that they can be successful and non-intrusive multimedia applications can actually enhance the visitor experience, as long as their placement and function within the gallery storyline is planned in advance and is functional. In general, multimedia are best set in separate areas from the exhibition galleries when:
They do not relate to the storyline or subject matter of specific exhibits in the galleries.
They provide access to encyclopaedic material, which could refer to more than one sections of the galleries.
They depend on the creative use of music or narrative through loudspeakers, that would disrupt the atmosphere of the galleries.
They propose an immersive or strong experience requiring special viewing conditions, such as a virtual reality reconstruction of an ancient site.
Multimedia applications can be useful in-gallery in the following cases:
- Their content and metaphor of use relates directly to the storyline or subject matter of a specific gallery.
- Their setting in the gallery does not present problems of visitor flow.
- The social behavior they promote (e.g. talking to each other in a group interactive) does not conflict with that designated for the gallery concerned.
1. Multimedia in Museums
3. Multimedia in Education