Principles of Interpretation
Discuss facts
Appeal to the imagination and reason
Give flesh and blood to cold facts
Make life stories of inanimate objects
Deal with principles rather than isolated
information
Give biographies rather than classifications
Principles of Interpretation
Appeal to the visitors first interest
Information is the raw material of interpretation
Through interpretation, understanding; through
understanding, appreciation; through appreciation,
protection
Wisdom is not knowledge of many things, but the
perception of the underlying unity of seemingly
unrelated things.
Children absorb facts and instances, not abstract
processes
Principles of Interpretation
Interpretation sometimes uses “judicious
silence”
In other words allow the beauty of the item to
speak for itself
The process of interpretation
Communication:
Unidirectional
• Usually one-way communication via stories, images, or ideas
• Common form of communication in interpretation
Multidirectional
• High level of exchange among the participants
• They share their experiences, knowledge or discoveries.
• Usually less formally structured
Group structures
Didactic Structure
Interpreter informs the listeners
• Speeches, film etc.
Visitor
Interpreter
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Group structures
Tutorial Structure
Let me see how you are coming and help you
over any barriers
Visitor
Interpreter
Visitor
Visitor
Individual Task Structure
Individual Task Structure
Interpreter assigns tasks to individuals
Visitor
Task
Task
Visitor
Interpreter
Task
Visitor
Small Group task structure
Interpreter assigns tasks to groups check on
progress
Compare when you are finished
Small Group Task Structure
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Task
Interpreter
Task
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Conference Structure
Interpreter allows free discussion among
visitors, then stays out of the way
Conference Structure
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Group Meeting Structure
Interpreter enters as a member of the
conference structure, raises problem, but
remains nonjudgmental
Group Meeting Structure
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Interpreter
The Problem
Visitor
Visitor
Visitor
Socratic structure
Interpreter poses questions, promotes
discussion/dialogue
http://www.nps.gov/search/querymeta?q=interpretation&v%3Aproject=NPS
&as_sitesearch=
How do we learn?
Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day
Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a
lifetime
But!!!!!
Teach a man to learn, he doesn’t have to eat
fish all of the time.
How do we learn?
How do we absorb general information
5 senses
Sight
Hearing
Touch
Taste
Smell
75%
13%
6%
3%
3%
How do we learn?
Modalities for learning
Visual
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Symbolic/abstract
Learning Theories
Learning Domains
Cognitive Domain
• Deals with rational mind and processing information
• Classifications, concepts etc
Affective Domain
• Emotional/feelings
Learning Theories
Learning Domains
Kinesthetic Domain
• Involves motor skills
Cognitive Development Theory
Piaget
Stage I Sensorimotor (0-2 years of age)
Develops organized patterns of behavior
Uses sensory and motor activities as a primary
means of learning
Stage II Preoperational (2-7 years of age)
Masters symbols (words)
Centers attention on one thing at a time
Cognitive Development Theory
Stage III Concrete Operations (7-11 years)
Generalizes from concrete experiences
Unable to mentally manipulate conditions not
yet experienced
Stage IV Formal Operations (>11 years)
Able to form hypothesis
Deals with abstractions
Cognitive Development Theory
Finalistic or functional
What is the purpose of the plant
Causal or logical
Anthropomorphic
Purposive or utilitarian
Social Cognition Theory
Egocentric (3-6)
Subjective (5-9)
Look at things from own perspective
Self-reflective (7-12)
Can look at things from others perspectives
Mutual (10-15)
Can look at things from a third person perspective
In-depth and societal
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Knowledge
Facts
Comprehension
Understands information and can translate it
Application
Takes information from several sources and
relates them to new situations
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Analysis
Breaking down ideas into components
Synthesis
Creating new ideas from old components
Evaluation
Appraises or judges information
Moral Development Theory
Preconventional morality
Fear on punishment
Maximizing pleasure/minimizing pain
Conventional Morality
What significant others think
What society thinks
Postconventional Morality
Justice and fairness
Self-respect
Learning styles
Action oriented (Dionysian)
Existential approach to life
Actual-spontaneous
They like to experience things
Lectures are boring
Epimethean temperament (Actual routine)
Doesn't like to be rushed
Likes lectures & traditional learning
Learning styles
Promethean temperament (conceptualspecific)
Enjoys thinking and learning
Like to collect, organize and classify
Research oriented
Can focus on a specific topic/point for long
periods of time
Doesn’t like routine and structure
Learning styles
Appollonian temperament (conceptual-global)
Seek significance of events and try to discover
meanings and relationships
Breakdown (pg 138)
Actual spontaneous (38%)
Actual routine (38%)
Conceptual-Specific Learners (12%)
Conceptual-Global Learners (12%)
Cognitive Map Theory
??????
Learning Theories
Constructivist
How people make meanings
Everyone has a “construct” of information and
attitudes that they bring to any learning process
“visitors make meaning in the museum; they
learn by constructing their own
understandings.”
Learning Theories
Stage Purpose
1
2
3
4
Quality
Awaken
Playfulness
Enthusiasm and
alertness
Focus
Receptivity
Attention
Direct
Absorption
Experience
Share
Idealism
inspiration
Benefits
Builds child’s love of play
Creates involvement
Provides direction and structure
Increases attention span
Calms the mind
Develops observation skills
People learn best by personal
discovery
Foster wonder, empathy, love
Clarifies & strengthens personal
experiences
Gives reinforcement
So what do we need to know about learning
theories? Common sense reminders
1. Learning is an act of structuring and relating
information and experiences
2. People process information differently, at
different ages, and among different individuals
and cultural groups
3. A sense of comfort and security affects a person’s
readiness to learn
4. When people feel good about the person
facilitating the learning experience, they care
about and remember the information presented
So what do we need to know about
learning theories?
5. Most people learn more easily when they use many of
their senses
6. Many people tend to remember most what they do, and
less of what they see or read, and least of what they hear.
7. A variety of approaches to a subject enhances the learning
process by making it more interesting and by meeting
then needs of the learners
8. Self-discovery is a powerful motivator
9. An organized presentation of information and activities
helps many people learn
10. Repetition can effectively facilitate learning.
Writing for Interpretation
 Writing is the hardest work in the world not
involving heavy lifting
 Writing is an essential skill for interpreters
 It allows you to put into writing key elements
 It also allows you to get your point across
Writing for Interpretation
 All writing is communication
 Creative writing is communication through revelation -- it is the self escaping into the open
 Keys to good writing (communication)




Never put more than one idea in a sentence
Use short words
Use short sentences
Use short paragraphs
Writing for Interpretation
 Keys to good writing (communication)
 Write action verbs (avoid to be etc)
 Appeal to the five senses when appropriate
 Use accurate colorful words
 Think rhythmically when combining and
choosing words
Preparing to Write
 Know the purpose
 What are your objectives?
 Define them before you start
 Avoid tangents
 Know the audience
 Target the audience
 If you have children, write in a language they will understand
 If you have a learned group, write accordingly
 Know the subject
 Do you homework
 Get beyond the basic facts
 Interpreter should be able to shape and mold the message (comes
with knowledge
Writing (Structure)
 Structure
 Very important in writing since it directs the reader
toward where the writer intends them to go
 Lead
 Captures the readers attention, indicates the general
theme
 Transition
 Tells the reader about the subject and its relevance
 Moves the reader smoothly from the lead into the body

Writing (Structure)
 Development
 The body of the work
 Key points are addressed or discussed
 Chronological order is important if discussing
historical events
 Deductive order takers the reader from the familiar to
the unfamiliar
 Inductive order draws general conclusions from
specific facts
 Strong ending
 Summarize the article in a thematic, colorful way.
Print Media
 Brochures, flyers, newsletters, signs, booklets
 Brochures
 Most commonly used form of written interpretation
 Estimated that 4,000 brochures come from federal
agencies
 Advantages
 Easy to distribute
 Low cost comparatively
 Disadvantages
 Reading issues
 Cold, impersonal
Print Media
 Here is a nice formula that I don’t expect
you to remembger
 Fraction of selection=
Expectation of reward/effort required
Print Media
 Tips for brochures
 Title
 Color
 Layout
 Composition
 Margins
 Font
Print Media
 Tips for Signs and Labels
 Contrast
 Lighting
 Lettering
Museums and Visitor Centers
 American Association of Museums (1998)
 7,700 museums in the united states
 Visitor Center
 Visitor center, interpretive center, nature
center, trailside museum, history center
Museums and Visitor Centers
 They are often used interchangeably
 Museums
 Contains original objects, brought in for
display in a convenient place
 Visitor Centers
 also have original objects, but they come from
right outside the door.
 In other words, the visitor center is near the genus
loci
Museums and Visitor Centers
 Both serve as orientation and education
instructions to the greater world around them.
 Their intention is to make the visitor more aware
of the historic phenomenon, or items being
presented
 Historic building or site
 Often located right on site and serve as a visitor center
or museum of the site.
Museums &
Visitor Centers
Chapter 10 Stuff
Museums
AAM (American Association of Museums)- 7,700
museums in US in 1998
AAM-15,800 members in 2001
2,300 museums in Canada
Several hundred in Mexico
5,000 museums in Europe
2,000 in Britain
Africa has some of the oldest & newest museums.
Many on Tourism
The former USSR and eastern Europe made museums out
of churches & castles.
Visitor Centers
AAM lists only a few of the US interpretive
centers.
These facilities occur throughout forests, parks,
zoos, refuges, and communities.
Most feature interpretive programs & exhibits.
The names visitor center, interpretive center,
trailside museum, history center, & orientation
center are use interchangeable.
Visitor Centers
482 “Federal Visitor Centers” in the US in 2001.
Operated by BLM, NPS, Army Corps of
Engineers, Fish & Wildlife Services, & Forest
Service.
State agencies & Canada’s Provinces operate
hundreds of centers within state/provincial historic
sites, state parks, forest, & wildlife areas.
Private nonprofit, industrial, & other groups
maintain interpretive centers at their facilities.
Differences
Museums
The approach toward the
matter
Contain original objects,
brought in for display & study
in a convenient place.
Displays the artifacts and
messages indoors
Serves as the destination for
the visitor
Visitor Centers or
interpretive center
Present original objects and
concepts that come from just
outside.
Located at or near the
resources
Serves as an orientation, an
invitation to the living
museum.
At a natural or historical
resource area serves to make
the visit more meaningful.
A center may keep collections
Museums or Visitor Centers?
Both can interpret
Both serve as orientation & educational
institution
Another kind of interpretive structure, is the
historical building or site.
Located wherever history put it, often accompanied by
a separate visitor center or museum.
Battlefield or building itself serves as a form of
museum.
Museums or Visitor Centers?
A related facility is the tourist information center.
Often accommodations & attraction information, as
well as orienting visitor to recreational & interpretive
opportunities.
Location relates to travel patterns
• At portals of a state or providence
• Major road junction of a local area
Use historical structure as their venues
Many contain interpretive exhibits & organized
interpretive programs.
Types of Museums
Simplest classification divided into 4 types- art
- historical
- science
- general
Some examples of museum types
- zoos
- art museums/ galleries
- history museums
- sports halls of fame
- military museums
- science & tech. museums
History of Museums
The word museum stems form a Greek word
meaning temple of the Muses
To collect, conserve, & exhibit "things"
seems to be human nature; Although
modern museums may be somewhat new,
the basic idea o exhibiting collections of
things goes back to ancient times
History of Museums
European colonization of Africa produced
numerous natural, mineral, &cultural
specimens for the growing number of show
places in Europe
History of Museums
Most early museums had little or no
educational function.
Modern museum and exhibit center
traditions have mostly developed since the
late 1700's & 1800's.
Interpretive or educational museums in the
US trace back to painter/collector/public
educator Charles Wilson Peale in
Philadelphia
History of Museums
The Wagner Free Institute of Science in
Philadelphia pioneered as a strongly
educational museum; William Wagner
sponsored its construction
A list of early major museums is on page 183
History of Museums
Some nations have used museums as
political & social tools
Today, most North American states,
provinces, counties, & cities have 1 or more
public museums to offer interpretation
about the area
US Government Museum
Development
Many early government interpretive
museums & visitor centers started with
private impetus & funding, often with
individual benefactors, curators, or rangers
taking the initiative.
Congress acted slowly to fund the National
Park Service's early efforts, although
agency officials believed in the idea of park
interpretive museums
US Government Museum
Development
Among the notable early contributors,
besides park rangers and superintendents,
were the Yosemite Museum Association, the
American Association of Museums, the
Carnegie family, & the Rockefeller family
Table 10.2 on P.186 lists National Park
Museum Starts and their funding sources
What A Museum Does
The American Association of Museums defines interpretation
as:
The activities through which a museum carries out its mission and
educational role.
In 1895, George Brown Goode defines a museum as:
An institution for the preservation of those objects which best illustrate
the phenomena of nature and the works of man.
Museum staff try to make objects meaningful to people.
A museum takes objects out of context and then tries to restore
context to allow them to speak directly to visitors
The Nature of Museums
Museums function primarily as places for people, not just
places for storing artifacts and collections
Functions and Objectives
The functions that characterize a museum, according to
National Park Services Museum expert Ralph Lewis
include:
Assembling and preserving objects
Providing opportunities for objects- centered research
Interpreting through contact with the real things in it
Museums special roles include:
To explain
To reflect what humans have and value
To examine the ways people describe the universe, existence, and
themselves
To evaluate the consequences of choices past, current and future
Museum Facilities and Services
Services and facilities offered by museums range widely:
Library
Bookstore/Gift Shop
Books, brochures and research reports printed by the
museums
Member reception rooms
Restaurant and lunch rooms
Mobile exhibit vans
Guided tours of museums and grounds
Field excursions and travel club programs
Types of Museums
Historical Museums
Philosophy of Historical Museums:
Preserving facts and giving perspective to
memory.
Museums
Rural and Agricultural Museums
Skansen Folk Museum(1891): 1st open air
museum exhibiting old structures, farm
implements, and appropriately dressed people to
tell the story of rural Swedish life styles.
Benefits
Benefits for the Visitor:
First hand experience with that specific time era
Gives a realistic sense of the farm life
Allows the visitor to be immersed physically and
emotionally
Art Museums
“Art museums present all types of artistic
accomplishments, from the great masters to
the work of very young beginners.”
Philosophy of Art Museums: Allowing the
art to interpret itself and allowing the
individual to develop skills.
Art Museums Con’d
Benefits for the Visitor:
Allowing common experiences between the
artist and the patron.
Allowing the patron to leave with a new
perception and understanding of the exhibit.
Specialized Museums
Specialized museums focus on certain topics
The history of an individual, group of people, business,
or industry
• Tribal groups like the Malki Museum in California or the
Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center in
Connecticut
The museums use films, videos, interactive programs,
exhibits, archival material, and other interpretive
methods.
Museums can be virtual, or online.
Museum Philosophy
There was once tension between curators
and educators in museums, but that has
mostly changed.
Museum responsibilities include
Collecting and preserving the past.
Recording and educating the present.
Providing perspective and inspiration for the
future.
Museum Philosophy
Defining the Clientele
Most museums now allow the entire public to
see and study the exhibits, rather than just the
upper class.
There should be a balance between adding
knowledge (research) and extending knowledge
(education and interpretation).
There are various books about subjects like
methods of outreach and different influences on
programming.
Museum Programming
Depends on resources of managed areas,
artifact dig sites, well persevered objects of
a past culture within a museum that requires
a visitor to be more involved .
These museums can provide smelling,
touching, tasting, hearing, & seeing.
Museums/ Visitor Center Design
Look to serve the visitor by being accessible
to all energy efficient constructed at all cost
& having low physical & visual impact on
the site.
The design helps to express the message of
the museum.
Entry & Theme
Sense of place or genius should be the main
focus of the museum's entrance.
The Wright Brother’s memorial near Kitty
Hawk theme simply states, “Here man first
flew”.
Character & Components
A developed center may include entry or
gathering area, parking, information desk,
ect.
Open centers that are exposed to the public
all the time may present problems for an
actual interpreter to function as normally as
they would in a developed center on the
site.
Projection
In a mulit-purpose room with a white wall
give the most flexible and attractiveness.
Slideshows
Are cheep, flexible, & easily edited without
high tech equipment.
Video Type Presentations
Video projection & production equipment
makes a major contribution to museums
orientation programs.
Video laser disks, PowerPoint & new devise
are becoming a favorite in museums.
These devises offer great assistance for
interpreters.
Administrators Face
Policy & Management
decisions
Structure &
development
Monetary support &
problems
Membership
Space & housing
Security of collections
& exhibits
Marketing &
Developing
Publicity for programs
Development of
funding resources
Who Owns & Influences Museums
& Centers
Private Donors
Public Agencies
Visitor Centers in Public Agencies
They look at:
Staffing
Budgeting
Fee collection
Design & value engineering review
Estimates long-term costs
Collections
Major task:
Acquiring, preserving, restoring, & cataloging
Decide to show or not, & how to show/interpret
Collections Accessions & Management:
Controlled accession requires acquisitions
policy that guides staff in selecting or declining
donations.
An accession helps with complex cases.
Conservation
Museums should have a conservation
workshop & a contract with a professional
conservator & restorer, because restoration,
etc requires special skills.
Exhibit Rotation Policy
Exhibits need to be rotated to keep visitors
interested, & some exhibits lose their value
it they stay up too long.
Hours of Operation
Weekend draws visitors more than 9 to 5
hours.
But a few places don’t employ people able
to open on weekends & evenings- when
most people can visit.
Interpretation As An Administrative
Priority
With these combinations of things museums make
their programs known, which opens changes for
learning, & lets museums know what public
likes/wants.
Education & research
Publications & other media
Marketing & public relations
Exhibitions
Public programs
Interactive & emerging technology use