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Another factor that comes into play is that it is really
difficult to know where the original idea for an exhibit
came from.  Many of the early exhibits at the Exploratorium
came from a book called the Handbook for the Physical
Sciences which is a book of science demonstrations for
use in the classroom.  Frank Oppenheimer had used
this book when he taught high school science in Colorado.

I agree with Andy (below) that the look and feel of an exhibit
are something that an individual museum might claim as
it's own, but the basic phenomena is often something that
has been around either in nature or in the classroom for
many years.

There are two differences I want to raise.  Often someone
will call and want lots of free information on how an exhibit
works and how you did things to make it work.  This intellectual
property is something both sides should be clear in discussing.
How much is just professional courtesy between museum
professionals and how much is wanting something for nothing.
The other situation is how one plans to use exhibit knowledge
and designs they borrow from a museum.  I think this particularly
comes into play if you are planning to sell copies of an exhibit.
I know of one exhibit design firm that copied pages out of the
Exploratorium Cookbook and put their own logo at the top of
the page in trying to sell their services to a museum.

We are all here (I hope) to help the public have quality experiences
that excite them about science and technology and it doesn't
make sense to reinvent the wheel each time we develop an
exhibit... but there is something to be said about taking good
ideas and putting your own stamp on them.

Dave Taylor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> From: Lloyd Andy <[log in to unmask]>

> Subject: Re: Question about exhibits

> Matthew
>
> something to also consider is the nature of the exhibit.  A venue would have
> a hard time arguing it had ownership of a phenomenon, which is what most of
> the "Cookbook" type exhibits are based upon - partly why you see similar
> exhibits all around the world.  You would be on trickier territory with
> non-phenomenological exhibits as considerably more investment will have gone
> into the core activity rather than just the fine detail of the design, so
> creators will certainly feel more ownership of the end result.  On the other
> hand, these sort of exhibits are difficult to copy without doing the bulk of
> the work again, so you often better off speaking to the originator anyway.
>
> Good luck with your studies!
>
> Andy Lloyd                                              tel. +44 (0) 20 7942
> 4377
> Interaction & Technology Specialist             fax +44 (0) 20 7942 4383
> Science Museum Solutions                        www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mperkin2 [mailto:[log in to unmask]]

> Subject: Question about exhibits
>
> Dear Informal Educators,
>
> I have visited several facilities over the past couple of years and have
> seen
> many things I would love to duplicate in a facility I may work at in the
> future.  What are the rules, unwritten and written, on copying and adapting
> exhibit ideas from facility to facility?  I am currently a doctoral student,
> formerly the director of a small school planetarium, and hope to someday
> again work at a planetarium with science center.  Feel free to respond
off-list to [log in to unmask]
>
> Thanks,
>
> Matthew Perkins
> Ph.D candidate, Science Education
> University of Tennessee

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