Manual of Museum Learning

Brad King is a Vice President with Lord Cultural Resources in Toronto. He holds a PhD in History from the University of Toronto where he was a Doctoral Fellow of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Since joining Lord in 2000, Brad has led or contributed to a wide variety of museum and cultural planning projects and has been involved in some of the most interesting and ambitious projects of our time. He brings a wealth of international experience to his work, being recently active in the Arabian Gulf, South Asian and the Caribbean regions as well as in the United States and Canada. He is the author of chapters on collections analysis (The Manual of Museum Planning, 3rd ed.), on evolving museum-school relationships (The Manual of Museum Learning, 1st ed.) and is a frequent speaker at museum and academic conferences. The recently deceased Barry Lord, Co-President of Lord Cultural Resources, was internationally known as one of the world's leading museum planners. Based in Toronto but working globally, Barry brought over fifty years of experience in the management and planning of museums, galleries and historic sites to the hundreds of projects he has directed. With a B.A. in Philosophy from McMaster University followed by graduate work at Harvard University's Center for the Study of World Religions, Barry co-founded Lord Cultural Resources with his wife Gail Lord in 1981. Together they edited and wrote the world's first book on the subject, Planning Our Museums (1983) and three editions of The Manual of Museum Planning (1991, 1999 and 2012). Barry also co-authored The Cost of Collecting (1989) and The Manual of Museum Management (1997; 2nd edition, 2009), co-edited two editions of The Manual of Museum Exhibitions (2002 and 2014), and edited the first edition of The Manual of Museum Learning (2007). Barry co-authored Artists, Patrons, and the Public: Why Culture Changes with Gail in 2010. His most recent book, Art and Energy: How Culture Changes was published by the American Alliance of Museums in 2014.

• Acknowledgments List of ContributorsPrologueBrad KingSection One: WHY Planning Basics1.IntroductionBrad King2.Planning Strategically for LearningBrad King3.Planning for Informal Learning: Understanding and Simplifying the Interpretive ProcessJennifer Shepherd Section Two: WHATA Framework for Museum LearningIntroductionBrad King 4.Learning for ChangeNgaire Blankenberg 5.The Changing Role of the CuratorSascha Priewe 6.Planning for Effective Learning PartnershipsBrad King Case Study 6.1: Tine Seligmann, Project Learning Museum: collaboration between museums and the educational world, from project to concept7.Museum Learning Outside the MuseumNgaire BlankenbergCase Study 7.1: Trish Savill, Campus Calgary/Open Minds – Moving the Classroom into the Community; doing together what we can’t do alone Section Three: HOW Transforming the Museum into a 21st Century Learning Institution IntroductionBrad King8. Managing Institutional ChangeIntroductionBrad King8.1Re-Visioning the Museum as a Learning InstitutionNannette V. Maciejunes and Cindy Meyers Foley 8.2Thinking About OperationsCharlie Walter 8.3Banishing the “Museum Position”: Training Front-Line Staff for Effective LearningKathleen Brown8.4Facility Planning for Museum LearningHeather Maximea9.Planning for AudiencesIntroductionBrad King9.1Adopting New Habits for Visitor-Centered LearningMerilee Mostov Case Study 9.1: Anne Madden, Engaging Audiences: Climate Change Learning at the Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden9.2Childhood Learning in MuseumsBrad KingCase Study 9.2 Candice Anderson, Cool Culture9.3Access for Museum LearningKatie Stringer10.Planning Learning Programs IntroductionBrad King10.1Use of Collections in Museum LearningSascha Priewe10.2The “Cultural Exhibition”: A Museum Model for Cultural Works-in-ProgressAndrea Sachdeva10.3Learning From InterpretationKatherine MolineuxCase Study 10.3: Genia Hesser, The North Dakota State Museum: A Thematic Approach to History Exhibits10.4Tools and Technology for Museum LearningShailoh Phillips11.ConclusionBrad KingPostscriptBarry LordGlossaryBibliographyIndex

Based on the premise the learning within the twenty-first-century museum setting is informal, voluntary, and affective, this volume presents both theory and case studies on how to optimize that learning. Building on material in the widely held 2007 first edition, the authors explore new settings and formats for educational experiences, from school-museum partnerships to the possibilities (such as Makerspaces) made available by the digital world. By analyzing the different resources a museum has, from collections of rare and beautiful objects to interactive learning spaces, the authors enumerate the different learning spaces. Four case studies offer precise examples of the ideas being presented. The authors have a wide range of experience in the museum world, from art and textile museums to botanical gardens. They provide a panoply of approaches to enhance the visitors’ experience, and to increase their understanding of the collections and exhibits they encounter. Any reader interested in improving the learning experience, for people at any stage of life, will find this volume of interest and use. Academic libraries and any others serving an education clientele should consider this volume, even if they own the first edition. Museum study programs will be most interested in this information.