Interpretation 101: making your collections meaningful

Interpretation 101:Making Collections

Meaningful

Regan Forrest and Katherine Sutcliffe

Interpretation Australia

• Shock and ORE

• Themes

• Practicing storytelling for your site

Today’s Workshop

Don’t think!

List five objects from your collection

Shock!

• Organised• Relevant• Engaging

ORE

When good museums go bad

Relevant?

Organised

Organised?

• Sam Ham

• Building blocks to good storytelling and

effective engagement

TORE, T=Theme

If you only remember one thing about Tilden, know this:

Information is not Interpretation

Themes

• Full ideas

• Complete sentences

• The ‘main message’ or ‘take home

message’

• The point of the exhibit/presentation

Themes are:

• help you work out what to say

• help you work out what not to say

Themes

Public access rights to Britain’s open spaces were eventually won following long-standing disputes between landowners and ramblers which came to a head with the landmark mass trespass protest on Kinder Scout in 1932

Our right to roam was once a fight to roam – and the most famous battle took place right here on Kinder Scout

Source: TellTale Interpretation, UK

Why say it when you can show it?

Objects and words together

Now, you try

A map

where you are now (current experiences, strengths and weaknesses) An inventory

what you have (people, places, collections) A destination

where you want to be (intended audience, visitor experience) A compass

how you’re going to get there (media selection, implementation plan)

Signposts evaluation, maintenance and ongoing review

Extra resources through http://interpretationaustralia.asn.au/resources/sample-documents

Interpretive Planning: Finding your way