Beverly Serrell has been an exhibition and evaluation consultant with art, history, natural history, and science museums, as well as zoos and aquariums. She was previously head of a museum education department for eight years, and worked as a high school science teacher and a research lab technician. Serrell holds an MA in science teaching in informal settings and a BS in biology. In 1995, she was a guest scholar at the J. Paul Getty Museum and has received two National Science Foundation grants to conduct research on visitor behavior in museum exhibitions. She has been a frequent museum visitor all her life.

Katherine Whitney is a museum consultant specializing in exhibit development and label writing. Her work has taken her into art, science, history and children's museums, as well as zoos and aquariums. She is particularly interested in how families engage with museums and has written about her own family's experiences. Whitney has an MA in Museum Studies and a BA in Art History.

Preface

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1. Guidelines and Essentials

PART II: OVERVIEW

2. Behind It All: The Big Idea

3. What Are Interpretive Labels?

4. Types of Labels in an Exhibition

5. The Importance of Captions

6. Label Systems

Photo Figures for Part IIxx

PART III: CONSIDERING THE AUDIENCE

7. Who Is The Audience?

8. Audience Segmentation

9. The Number of Words

10. Readability Issues

11. Multilingual Labels

12. The Labels Voice: Who's Talking to Me?

Photo Figures for Part III

PART IV: ENHANCING THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE

13. Improving Orientation

14. Being Visitor Friendly

15. Making Words and Images Work Together

16. Labels That Ask Questions

17. Labels for Interactive Exhibits

18. Digital Label Strategies

Photo Figures for Part IV

PART V: TASKS

19. Getting Started, and Getting Done

20. Prototyping

21. Typographic Considerations

22. Production Materials and Issues

23. Evaluation After Opening

Photo Figures for Part V

PART VI: VOICES FROM THE FIELD

PART VII: CONCLUSIONS

24. What Research Tells Us About Visitors

25. Essentials Takeaway

Acknowledgements

Photo Figure Index

Bibliography

Index