ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Left Coast Press, Inc. is pleased to announce:
Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience
By John H. Falk
224 pages, $29.95 paperback (15% discount on web orders at
www.LCoastPress.com)
Why do people visit museums? In this groundbreaking new book, renowned
researcher John Falk explains why we need to look beyond demographics and
toward more personal factors to better understand—and serve—our visitors.
Falk provides a predictive model that will help museums proactively manage
the visitor experience and successfully predict visitor outcomes. Backing up
his theories and suggestions with concrete research, including transcripts of
interviews with real visitors, Falk contends that people seek identity-building
pursuits for their leisure time and lays out five museum-goer categories that
are related to various visitor identities and motivations. In what might be a
surprising finding to many museum professionals, Falk argues that content is
generally not the primary motivating factor for most museum visits, but rather,
visits are initiated by influences originating outside of the museum—by
a “desire to fulfill one of many highly need-specific identity-related
motivations.” Divided into sections on theory and practice, Identity and the
Museum Visitor Experience is a well-grounded yet practical resource for all of
us seeking to provide more meaningful experiences for our constituents.
For additional information and to place your order, visit our website at
http://www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=214
ISBN: 978-1-59874-162-9 (hardcover); 978-1-59874-163-6 (paperback)
PRICE (15% discount on web orders at www.LCoastPress.com):
$29.95 (U.S.), $35.95 (Canadian), £15.99 (Paperback)
$79.00 (U.S.), $96.00 (Canadian), £42.99 (Hardback)
“This book should be read by anyone serious about visitor experiences in
museums. Falk reconceptualizes the field from a wholistic perspective using
the ‘lens’ of visitor identity and motivation. The model he proposes will shape
and inform the nature, design and understanding of visitor experiences in free-
choice learning environments.”
–Roy Ballantyne, University of Queensland, and editor of Visitor Studies Journal
"John Falk's most exciting work reframes frustrating old questions in new ways
that bring immediate clarity. In this important book, Falk shifts the old issue of
visitor segmentation away from stable traits to ephemeral dispositions. His
new formulation shows us visitors who actually seem to belong to the same
species as ourselves, and whose differences relate to understandable
differences in the ways that they perceive and use exhibitions."
–Jay Rounds, E. Desmond Lee Professor of Museum Studies, University of
Missouri St. Louis, and former editor of the Exhibitionist Journal
"John Falk’s determined focus on the visitor’s experience continues to
transform our understanding of the relationship between museums and their
audiences. Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience demonstrates that Falk
remains the leading voice in the field of museum learning. For the first time he
moves beyond theory and proposes a model that museums can use to explore
how to serve their visitors in more meaningful ways."
–Nannette V. Maciejunes, Columbus Museum of Art
For more information, contact Stefania Van Dyke at
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Stefania R. Van Dyke
Museum Studies and Practice
Left Coast Press, Inc.
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Journal orders: 925-935-3380
Book orders: 800-426-3979
Fax: 925 935-2916
1630 N. Main Street #400
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
www.LCoastPress.com
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/LeftCoastPress
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Coast-Press-Inc/26366019052?ref=ts
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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.
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