What I’m Looking For… (thoughts from an 11-year-old museum visitor)
The Ed/Interpreters Affinity Committee asked for some input from the committee on what we like when we visit museums/historic sites. I took it one step forward and asked my internal focus group, my family, to weigh in. This first entry is from my 11-year-old daughter and reflects what she looks for in a visit:
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When I go to a museum or historic site, I like the tour guides that let you ask questions, or ask YOU questions. Audio tours are fun too. One thing I don’t like about them is that you don’t get to ask it questions. Questions are how you learn! Another thing I don’t like is when tour guides just rush you along, and don’t let you ask questions- because then the learning experience is ruined!
Another thing that I like is getting to experience what the museum is based on. Such as the Freedom Center in Cincinnati. That had a real slave pen that used to hold slaves in it. On the Freedom Center’s audio tour, you heard a slave talking about how bad it was to be living there. It sent shivers down my spine to imagine what it would be like to be held captive, unpaid, and treated badly. It made me wonder what was going through people’s minds when they purchased a slave.
When I went to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, I was amazed. It was so interactive and visual! The tour guide handed out little things to the kids to hold on to while she was bringing everybody around the house. She would have them give the thing (doll, fake letter, ect.) back once they had learned about it. The garden was in good shape and they even had a farmer that would help you pick carrots and stuff.
These are the thoughts of an 11-year-old girl. Museums are fun to me and I enjoy the chance getting to talk about them.
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Visitors rate their experience “excellent” when
• Staff initiates interaction with visitors
• Staff explains history and shows visitors objects
• Visitors touch, handle or use objects
• Visitors ask questions of staff
In more than 6 years of visitor research at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, more than 90 per cent of the visitors that were surveyed that said “they had an excellent experience” made the above mentioned observations about their visit.