ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
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One valuable version of the daily checklist is to at least keep a
running log of what is being fixed and how often. I've done it on a
weekly and monthly basis and it really made it a great deal easier when
I had to report to the powers-that-be about the need (=$$s) for a major
overhaul of an exhibit. Also came in handy when planning the next
year's budget.
I also agree that from the visitor's viewpoint one or two exhibits being
down or working poorly is always perceived as "nothing is working!" Our
floor staff now will ask a visitor who makes a complaint to actually
point out what they feel wasn't right. Many are happy to do so and we
will then get their name and number and send them a follow up describing
what was done to remedy the situation. We often offer free admission
for a return visit so they can come back when things are right.
Erich Rose
Exhibit Manager
Austin Children's Museum
201 Colorado Street
Austin, TX 78701
512-472-2499 x207, fax 512-472-2495
[log in to unmask], www.austinkids.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jeff Courtman
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 10:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Percentage of working interactives
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
************************************************************************
*****
Sean:
Years ago when I used to get that very question, I had to go by 'gut
feel.' And then I got irritated enough to try and quantify the
number. It was a big ol' pain in the booty, but we created a
checklist with each exhibit in each gallery. Someone in exhibits, on
a rotating basis, was responsible for going through the galleries
each morning during startup and noting whether an exhibit was
operational or not - did it physically do what it was supposed to
do? did it need consumables? etc. Someone also had to do this after
lunch.
After about a month of this pain, we were indeed able to show that
95% to 98% of the exhibits were working at any given time.
Of course the paperwork is a stupid thing; who's ever going to look
at the paper? But it sure got a couple of people off my back.....
To me, a person who likes theory as much as anything else, there are
a couple of more subtle questions that enter into the equation.
First, it often seemed the case that if one exhibit was broken, the
perception was that 'lots of things were broken.' The other: crappy
exhibits...If the visitor didn't get 'something' - say it wasn't
intuititve, it was just a bad exhibit, it wasn't a chunk they could
understand, the perception was this was an exhibit that wasn't working.
Exhibit maintenance is perhaps the most thankless job i can think of;
its never a job finished, there's something always needing fixing,
and you're battling perception as much as reality....
>
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