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

Hi Sean,

When Liberty Science Center opened the first time (1993) I was head of the
department that repaired exhibits.  Because of visitor complaints, we
developed a check-list that included anything that wasn't 100% - if a light
bulb was out, if anything was missing, basically anything that  didn't work
the way it was meant to.  After crunching numbers for a while we realized
there was a fine line between when we could keep up with the repairs and
when we couldn't.  We got complaints in the Suggestion Box from visitors
when about 95% of the exhibits were working, and when the number was higher
the complaints stopped.  So maybe you need to get a feel for what that
number is at your institution.  It may be that a very small difference in
percentage makes a huge difference in visitors' experience.

In terms of repair strategies, we had teams of people responsible for each
area - a more experienced technician and a less experienced one.  We had
specified the exhibits so that there was a lot of standardization of parts
(same kinds of computers, same size monitors, same types of light bulbs,
trackballs, and so on) so that we always had in back what we needed in
front.  That's a very expensive strategy if your exhibits are different from
one another, but in terms of how you deal with things in the future it's
good to keep in the back of your head.  We even standardized the types of
case locks and screw types that we used and that we'd let our vendors use.
This way anybody going out to check the gallery had the right key and type
of screwdriver and didn't have to go back to the shop.

Hope this helps!

Barbara Punt

Punt Consulting

409 North PCH, Suite 326

Redondo Beach, CA  90277

Telephone (310) 937-3366

Fax (815) 377-3633

Barbara @puntconsulting.com

 <http://www.puntconsulting.com/> www.puntconsulting.com

 <http://www.puntconsulting.com/>  

When in doubt ... Punt!

............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
...........................................

Dear all,

In the eternal quest for a foolproof and meaningful method of measuring
performance of interactives I would like to know two things:

1. How do folks measure the percentage uptime of their interactives i.e. if
you say they are up 95% of the time how do you actually know?

2. What repair strategies do you employ i.e. do you have staff waiting for a
breakdown?

We are examining the whole question of what does a statement of " we will
have 95% of our interactives working at all times" really mean and is there
any way of having a robust method of determining it??? So any ideas from
other places would be gratefully accepted.

Cheers

Sean Gaffaney

Head of Gallery and New Developments

Museum of Science and Industry

Manchester UK

email: [log in to unmask]

 

When in doubt ... Punt! 

 

  _____  

From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of ISEN-ASTC-L automatic
digest system
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 9:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: ISEN-ASTC-L Digest - 6 Mar 2008 to 7 Mar 2008 (#2008-60)



  _____  

I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users.
It has removed 14410 spam emails to date.
Paying users do not have this message in their emails.
Try SPAMfighter <http://www.spamfighter.com/len>  for free now!


***********************************************************************
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]