Author:
Maurice Davies
Published Date:
Title:
Ekarv text method in practice
Publisher:
Place Published:
Page Numbers:
Museum Practice: Interpretation
England
page 59 - 61
Ekarv text method in practice
With more than 200,000 visitors annually, the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth provides the most
prominent example in the UK of the use of the Ekarv method for writing display text. Maurice Davies
visited its three new permanent galleries in which the text for all the main interpretive panels - and
some computer-based interactives - follows Margareta Ekarv's principles As part of the preparation of
the new galleries, curatorial staff learned the Ekarv method for easy-to-read text and then put it into
practice.
Education officer Rebekka Moran introduced them to the method, soon after her appointment in April
1998 as the museum's first education specialist (funded by the Nuffield Foundation as part of the
Royal Naval Museum's (RNM's) redevelopment). Moran began by inviting museum staff and the
outside designers, Robin Wade and Partners, to a seminar on display text. She presented the Ekarv
principals of writing readable texts, including: simple language, short sentences, one main idea per
line of text, and laying out text so that lines coincide with the natural phrasing of the text. The
designers brought with them some mock-up panels to show what the finished display text might look
like.
The seminar was an opportunity to examine the function of display panels by exploring related factors
such as visitor learning styles and the role of panels in relation to other interpretive media such as
books and other more detailed texts. Moran also supplied curators with a written guide to the Ekarv
method.
Approach
At the RNM, the introductory panels are part of a layered system of interpretation that includes more
detailed labels for display cases and individual objects. Generally, the more detailed texts do not
follow Ekarv principles (although they do use fairly straight-forward language). They also take account
of the fact that many of the museum's visitors are not regular museum users; rather they visit the
museum as part of a day at Portsmouth historic dockyard (80 per cent of RNM's visitors are holders of
a Dockyard wide admission ticket). Moran believes strongly that the museum must do all it can to
make these irregular visitors feel comfortable. Making interpretive texts easily accessible is a key part
of this. Moran also points out that the Historic Dockyard, as a whole is full of information and
interpretation: there are audio guides, guidebooks and interpretive panels galore. It is simply
unrealistic to expect visitors to the museum to have enough energy left to wade through huge
quantities of dense text. That is not to say that there is a paucity of interpretation in the galleries there is generally more than before the redisplay. Visitors can also get more information easily from
books - and experts' can make an appointment to use the museum's research facilities.
Results
Curators admit to initial scepticism about the Ekarv method, and particular to being worried that it
would be too simplistic and unsuitable for presenting complex ideas. However, they agreed to
experiment with it, initially to a level with which they felt comfortable. They found it to be a demanding
process: the brevity of the text meant that they had to make clear decisions about the precise points
to be presenting in each panel.
Moran says that she "gently guided" curators through the process, responding to requests for advice,
but without being prescriptive. Staff sometimes worked in small groups to discuss possibilities. The
final decision about the wording of each piece of text remained with the curator who wrote it.
Gradually, the curators became convinced of the merits of Ekarv, and more confident about using it
as they put it into practice. By the third gallery (the Victory gallery), they were using Ekarv in its most
pure and poetic' form. One curator comments: "To move away from Ekarv now would be a big step
backwards - visually and educationally."
Visitors now seem to spend longer in each of the refurbished galleries (although there have been a
great many changes in addition to the use of Ekarv texts) and a limited visitor survey has showed that
visitors like the display panels, with 83 per cent rating them as "excellent" or "very interesting".
Visitors' comments include: "The accompanying text is extremely clear and readable. Short sentences
are a very good idea and Quite the most interesting, informative and well presented exhibition I have
ever seen'. in contrast, one visitor noted: Everything was wonderful except the text explanations on
the exhibits were not very adult; seemed to be aimed at children; very simplistic.
The RNM's director, Campbell McMurray, is convinced of the benefits of the Ekarv method and rejects
the view that simpler texts mean that visitors learn less. in fact, the opposite is true. Remembering
how little time most people used to spend in the old galleries, he comments: "We perhaps used to be
rather over optimistic in our assumptions about what visitors learned."
Other benefits of the Ekarv approach are the consistency it has given to texts Written by several
different curators, and the concise, straightforward language, which is easier for visitors with a limited
knowledge of English to read and translate. It also works well when people read it to others, for
example when adults read to children. So far there is only anecdotal evidence that. the Ekarv
approach supports visitor learning better than more conventional texts. As the method gains in
popularity there may be a case for a more formal evaluation of its effectiveness.
Ekarv at the Royal Naval Museum
The Royal Naval Museum (RNM) followed the standard guidelines for Ekarv text, as presented in
Museum Practice (issue 5,p72-75) and repeated below. However, staff at the museum emphasise
that Ekarv should be seen more as an underlying philosophy than a series of steps to follow. They
also warn against employing Ekarv without first being clear that it is suitable for an individual
museum's circumstances, including its site and its actual and target audiences.
They advise others to use the system flexibly, adapting the guidelines set out below - or If necessary
using a completely different system - to suit the needs of the museum, and with which they feel
comfortable. For example, at the RNM they included specialist terms, but always put them in bold
type and made sure that the sentence surrounding them was simple.
Guidelines for the Ekarv text method
Education officer Rebekah Moran warns that using Ekarv may not be easy and cautions others to:
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Take care not to over simplify concepts because the language is simple
Make sure that texts do not become patronising as a result of their succinctness and
simplicity
Use simple language to express complex ideas
Use normal spoken word order
One main idea per line, end of line coinciding with natural end of phrase
Lines of about 45 letters, text broken into short paragraphs of four to five lines
Use the active form of verbs and state the subject early in the sentence
Read text aloud and note natural pauses Adjust wording and punctuation to reflect the rhythm
of speech
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Discuss texts with colleagues and consider their comments Co-ordinate the text writing with
the design of displays
Pin draft texts in their final positions to assess the effect Continually revise and refine the
wording
Concentrate the meaning to an almost poetic level Keep expectations high and do not avoid
using the text to challenge visitors but Be alert to the risk of becoming over interested in the
formal, poetic qualities of the text at the expense of its meaning
Always use the text to focus visitors' attention on the objects on display; do not treat the text
as an end in itself.
Avoid: subordinate clauses, complicated constructions, and unnecessary adverbs,
hyphenating words at the end of lines
At the RNM, panel text is a minimum of 14pt, mainly in Baskerville, a serif face, although Moran would
have preferred a plainer sans serif face. As well as using the Ekarv method for panels, the museum
used it to guide written text on multimedia screens. They also used the Ekarv method as a guide for
laying out oral history quotations. White they did not wish to edit the quotations in any way, they
followed the Ekarv idea of breaking lines where pauses occur in the text, to make it easier to
understand.
Maurice Davies is Deputy Director of the Museums Association
THE NEW ROYAL NAVAL MUSEUM GALLERIES
The RNM has opened three new galleries as part of the first phase of a two-part refurbishment.
Almost £3m of the £5,3m project was funded through a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Between them, the three galleries cover the period up to about 1860, under the themes: The Sailing
Navy (life on a warship in the 18th and 19th centuries); Horatio Nelson: the hero and the man; and, in
a separate building that overlooks HMS Victory itself, a gallery that covers the battle of Trafalgar and
the story of HMS Victory (Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar).
The galleries, designed by Robin Wade and Partners, combine hands-on and interactive multimedia
and audio-visuals with displays of objects. The gallery about Trafalgar and HMS Victory, for example,
includes the following elements, in addition to objects displayed in cases:
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Trafalgar! - A multimedia walk through experience, designed by Sarner International, that
allows visitors to experience events from the gun deck of Victory during the battle'
A large panorama of the battle painted in 1929-30 by the artist W L Wyllie
A small display of Wyllie's life and art
A hands-on area at the centre of the main Story of Victory displays. Interactives cover, for
example, signalling, knots, sailing and wind direction
An audio-visual introduction (in English and French)
Multimedia interactives on, for example, firing ship's guns and the Trafalgar quiz (the quiz can
be used to collect data to guide staff about visitors' level of knowledge)
Works on paper in pull-out racks
Panels illustrating individuals who sailed on HMS Victory
An oral history display on the restoration of HMS Victory, including recorded testimonies by
the people who worked on the restoration, and explanations by experts in various disciplines
of why they think it is important to conserve the ship.
Throughout the galleries, museum staff has tried to make the displays and interpretation appeal to a
wide range of non-specialist visitors. As an example, panels refer to `people' or `crew' rather than
`men' and make a deliberate point of referring to the fact that there were women on board some
ships.
Interpretation is designed to prompt visitors to think and reach their own conclusions. The overriding
aim is to stimulate a general interest in history (which visitors might be encouraged to take further),
rather than present very specific messages or an authoritative authorial voice.
Text Examples
Example 1: Panel near a window overlooking HMS Victory itself that aims to encourage visitors to
look a little more closely at the ship (the panel includes an annotated diagram to explain the technical
terms used in the text)
EXAMPLE 2: Interpretive panel
EXAMPLE 3: An almost "poetic" example, introducing the idea of oral history