Tag: Museum strategies

Smithsonian Institution: A World Class Museum Operator

November 4, 2011 • Blog • no comments

Aerial view of the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC (source: Tripadvisor)

As part of the Business Of Heritage conference, I had the pleasure of learning about how the Smithsonian Institution built its world class reputation as a leading museum brand. Delivering the talk was Ms Elizabeth Duggal, Director of International Museum Professional Education Programme of Smithsonian Institution and Co-Chair of ICOM United States.

Here are some of the key points of the talk which I thought would be useful to share.

Excellence in Museums

Technology in Museums – Some Surprising Findings

August 11, 2011 • Blog • no comments

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read this 2009 article in Museum Audience Insight on how technology is actually preferred by older museum visitors to younger ones. Have a look at the chart below:

Courtesy of Museum Audience Insight

According to their findings of visitors to Outdoor History Museums,

Managing Visitor Fatigue in Museums and Attractions

July 22, 2011 • Blog • 3 comments

Museum visits needn’t be a yawn if you design them well (Courtesy of BelieveJay)

While doing some desktop research recently, I came across an interesting article by Gareth Davey titled “What is Museum Fatigue?” in InformalScience. The academic piece explained why visitors get tired when visiting museums, and proposed how we can better manage visitor behaviours when designing exhibitions.

Apparently, from research conducted thus far, the following findings are derived:

Visitor Strategies @ V&A Museum

April 25, 2011 • Blog • 1 comment

The V&A (formerly Victoria and Albert Museum) in the UK is one of the leading museum groups on the British isles and an international cultural brand. It comprises the V&A Museum at South Kensington, the V&A Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green, and its archives and stores at Blythe House, Kensington Olympia. Like many British museums, all V&A museums provide free entry to visitors.

First opened in 1852 and named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, the V&A has a massive permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. Its flagship museum at South Kensington has since grown to now cover 12.5 acres (51,000 m2) and 145 galleries, and is touted as the “world’s greatest museum of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity”. Visitors to V&A at South Kensington can uncover 3000 years of cultural treasures gleaned from many of the world’s richest cultures. They include ceramics, furniture, fashion, glass, jewellery, metalwork, photographs, sculpture, textiles and paintings.