ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Perhaps the reason for so few good examples of the 'influential' use of 
technology on the exhibit field is more fundamental than the reasons you 
suggest. Certainly, use of new technologies have always been a part of 
our palette of the tools we use to do our work, from new lighting, 
digital planetariums to all manner of 3D full, immersion experiences.

However, the fundamentals of good story telling (for after all, that is 
what we're mostly doing here) hasn't changed in a long time. So, whether 
you're using a flashlight around a campfire some stormy night or Dolby 
Digital 7.2 with full dome surround and 3D glasses perched on your nose, 
there are still two fundamental things you must have to tell a good 
story; 1) a good story to tell, and 2) a good story teller.

Joe R




On 1/13/2011 8:56 AM, Eugene Dillenburg wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Please excuse any cross-postings.
>
> I started teaching my Exhibits class this week and, as always, I gave the students a brief history of exhibits, borrowing heavily from Marjorie Schwarzer's chapter on "Twelve Influential Exhibits" in the AAM centennial book.  She lists Carl Akeley's dioramas, the coal mine at MSI, the Holocaust Museum, and others as exhibits that have had a broad impact on the field at large.
>
> During the discussion afterward, one student asked if there were any technology-based exhibits that were also considered influential.  I thought of Science on a Sphere, which is popping up in several science centers, and the AMNH biodiversity hall which has a computerized ID system that has received a lot of attention.  But for the most part, no, and I came up with three reasons:
>
> 1) Digital technology simply hasn't been around long enough to for any individual application to impact the field in the same way that the Exploratorium model or Mathematica have;
>
> 2) Digital technology changes so rapidly that, even if there was something with the potential to create such an impact, it would be out of date in a few years; and
>
> 3) Exhibits have such long lead times, and tight budgets, that they cannot easily incorporate cutting-edge technology.  (I suppose that's a summary of points 1&  2).
>
> However, I have been wrong before, so I thought I'd put the question out there: have there been any exhibits whose use of digital technology has had a wide influence on the exhibit field?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Eugene Dillenburg
> Exhibit Developer, Science Museum of Minnesota
> Assistant Professor and "Scholar," Michigan State University
>

***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]