The Museum Experience Revisited

"..Like a classic rock album that has been digitally remastered, much of the core of the Museum Experience Revisited is reassuringly familiar and reinforces some of the beliefs and practices that are now well established in the field of Museum Education. However, the new research presented amounts to more than a couple of additional bonus tracks and a shiny new cover. For newcomers to visitor studies, the book provides an invaluable summary of what research has been conducted in the audience research field over the last thirty years For those of us who have been following Falk and Dierking's research for some time, [this book] is a welcome addition to their body of work that usefully addresses the challenges that both museum researchers and practitioners face today."... --David Francis, Visitor Studies "...This incarnation of Falk and Dierking's work is a valuable resource for those in the museum community and specifically those in history institutions. Similar to its initial edition, this text provides a strong foundation for new museum professionals. It also functions well as a refresher for veterans in the industry, providing varied information about current research, theory, and best practices."...--Kristie Smeltzer, History News "The first edition of this book made me--and many others--fall in love with museum work. This new edition pushes all of us to work with more sensitivity and nuance to make museums as useful and compelling as possible. "--Nina Simon, Author of The Participatory Museum and the Museum 2.0 blog "The Museum Experience Revisited will be as powerful a tool for all museums and science centre professionals for the next twenty years as The Museum Experience has been since 1992. It has the fragrance of wisdom and the texture of common sense. I cannot see how anyone in the museum field could possibly survive without reading it."--Professor Per-Edvin Persson, Director of Heureka, The Finnish Science Centre "...The authors' The Museum Experience (1992) has proved itself a useful guide to the structure and operations of museums, but Falk and Dierking (both, Oregon State Univ.) give solid reasons for this revision. Museum visitors have tripled in number worldwide, and the number of institutions has doubled. The authors see a "...quantum increase in related scholarship,"... and museums changing somewhat from traditional institutions that host exhibitions to institutions that host exhibitions but do not maintain collections. The authors indicate that the museum's character is changing from being "...a nicety in society to a necessity."... This book aims to enhance understanding of the museum experience, in part through a focus on organizing visitors' experience via the Contextual Model of Learning, which combines personal, sociocultural, and physical phenomena with an awareness that each visitor comes with individual experiences. The bulk of the book analyzes the museum visit--before, during, and after, with an emphasis on the latter. The last chapter, "...Beyond the Visit,"... aims at the future, with challenging goals that include promoting exchanges of intellectually important ideas, building self-actualization, and more. Most important, according to the authors, tomorrow's museum should be committed to public service and to reinventing its philosophy and practice. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals/practitioners."..--CHOICE