Oral History and Museum Exhibits: Opposition and Technology
From OHA Wiki
Although there have been many successful exhibits that have used oral histories, there are some public historians and academic professionals that disagree with the use of any technology in a museum setting. One major concern is that museums were once “temples of knowledge, constructed to house the treasures of a community” and have become more hand-on, interactive, and child-oriented.1 While it is true that there are more gadgets present today in museums than in the past, technological advancement can bring new life into historical places. Especially where oral history is concerned, storytelling can exist in a variety of mediums, and there are instances where the most powerful stories are told through panels of text.2 However, some professionals believe that interpretation is an important part of an exhibit and audiences should be presented with only enough so that they can draw their own conclusions.
In recent years, many institutions have used audio tours as a part of the interactive experience, and visitors can listen to a tour guide or curator give them more information about a particular section of an exhibit. That tradition has evolved into cell phone tours and additional content that can be viewed via a handheld web browser. Some see this new option as a problem for museums because the visitors focus their attention on their phone or mobile device rather than the historical artifacts in front of them. Walter Schacht, a museum planner in Seattle, is concerned with the advent of high-tech exhibits because “Too often they spoon-feed information to the audience. When visitors participate by reading, thinking, and making personal judgments about the subject matter, they have a truly interactive experience.”3 In Schacht’s view, photographs and labels can also be engaging to the public and technology is not needed for visitors to fully experience an exhibit.
However, Schacht and his peers also agree that firsthand accounts and interviews can add a tremendous amount of information and interpretation to an exhibit and those oral histories can be the most compelling sections of a presentation. Museums have largely accepted and embraced the use of oral histories, and that sends “a signal that they are committed to the substance of people’s lives,” and not just the stories of famous individuals.
Continue this discussion here with Oral History and Museum Exhibits: Looking to the Future.
Related Pages
Oral History and Museum Exhibits: An Introduction
Oral History and Museum Exhibits: Catering to the Audience
Oral History and Museum Exhibits: Successful Exhibits
Oral History and Museum Exhibits: Looking to the Future
Oral History and Museum Exhibits: A Bibliography
References
1 Selma Thomas, “Private Memory in a Public Space,” 87.
2 Ron Chew, “Collected Stories.”
3 Ron Chew, “Collected Stories.”
