Times are changing at historic house museums and no one is more aware of this than the fourteen contributors to Interpreting Historic House Museums. These respected museum professionals consider the history of house museums and the need to look at familiar issues from new perspectives and using new methods. If your site isn't using a comprehensive interpretive plan, how can you create one? While doing so, how do you address contemporary issues like race and gender? Don't forget the physica...

Dr. Harold K. Skramstad Jr., renowned museum practitioner as president emeritus of The Henry Ford, wrote many provocative essays, articles, keynote and symposia papers on the challenges and opportunities of the American museum.Written over three decades, they address the fundamental issues and concerns that we still wrestle with today. Skramstad reminds us that all museums-big and small-have an obligation to be outwardly focused in their communities, helping to address people's prob...

A captivating exploration of the ever-evolving world of architecture and the untold stories buildings tell.When a building is finished being built, that isn’t the end of its story. More than any other human artifacts, buildings improve with time—if they’re allowed to. Buildings adapt by being constantly refined and reshaped by their occupants, and in that way, architects can become artists of time rather than simply artists of space.From the connected farmh...

In this volume of 29 essays, Weil's overarching concern is that museums be able to “earn their keep”—that they make themselves matter—in an environment of potentially shrinking resources. Also included in this collection are reflections on the special qualities of art museums, an investigation into the relationship of current copyright law to the visual arts, a detailed consideration of how the museums and legal system of the United States have coped with the problem of Nazi-era art, and a...

If you've ever considered going to an art museum and then thought, errr, I'll do something else ... If you've ever arrived at one and left a little glazed and confused ... If you've ever thought, I might read an eight-page article about art museums but not a whole book ... Then this is your story. Museum Legs -- taken from a term for art fatigue -- starts with a question: Why do people get bored and tired in art museums and why does that matter? "Amy Whitaker's sparkling meditations on the mu...

Historic preservation, which started as a grassroots movement, now represents the cutting edge in a cultural revolution focused on “green” architecture and sustainability.This is the only book to cover the gamut of preservation issues in layman’s language: the philosophy and history of the movement, the role of government, the documentation and designation of historic properties, sensitive architectural designs and planning, preservation technology, and heritage tourism, plus a sur...

This very practical book guides museums on how to create the highest quality experience possible for their visitors. Creating an environment that supports visitor engagement with collections means examining every stage of the visit, from the initial impetus to go to a particular institution, to front-of-house management, interpretive approach and qualitative analysis afterwards.This holistic approach will be immensely helpful to museums in meeting the needs and expectations of visi...

Theatre practice and applied theatre are areas of growing international interest. Applied Theatre is the first study to assist practitioners and students to develop critical frameworks for planning and implementing their own theatrical projects. This reader-friendly text considers an international range of case studies in applied theatre through discussion questions, practical activities and detailed analysis of specific theatre projects globally. In addition, the collection gathers togeth...

Essential reading for students and practitioners of urban design, this collection of essays introduces the 6 dimensions of urban design through a range of the most important classic and contemporary key texts. Urban design as a form of place making has become an increasingly significant area of academic endeavour, of public policy and professional practice. Compiled by the authors of the best selling Public Places Urban Spaces, this indispensable guide includes all the crucial definitions ...

In small community museums, truck stops, restaurants, bars, barbershops, schools, and churches, people create displays to tell the histories that matter to them. Much of this history is personal: family history, community history, history of a trade, or the history of something considered less than genteel. It is often history based on the historical record, but also based on feelings, beliefs, and memory. It is neglected history.Private History in Public is about those hi...

The first book to take a "visitor's eye view" of the museum visit when it was first published in 1992, The Museum Experience revolutionized the way museum professionals understand their constituents. Falk and Dierking have updated this essential reference, incorporating advances in research, theory, and practice in the museum field over the last twenty years. Written in clear, non-technical style, The Museum Experience Revisited paints a thorough picture of why people go to museums, what t...

This broad introduction to museums benefits all educators who teach introductory museum studies, addressing the discipline from a holistic, dynamic, and document-centered perspective.Museums serve to help us understand the past and navigate our future—as individuals, as societies, and as a global community. A careful and accurate assessment of a museum's purpose is crucial to its ability to serve its users effectively. Foundations of Museum Studies: Evolving Systems of Knowledg...