Kids have profound and important relationships to the past, but they don't experience history in the same way as adults. For museum professionals and everyone involved in informal history education and exhibition design, this book is the essential new guide to creating meaningful and memorable connections to the past for children. This vital museum audience possesses many of the same dynamic qualities as trained historian—curiosity, inquiry, empathy for the human experience—yet traditional history exhibitions tend to focus on passive looking in the galleries, giving priority to relaying information through words. D. Lynn McRainey and John Russick bring together top museum professionals to present state-of-the-art research and practice that respects and incorporates kids' developmental stages and learning preferences and the specific ways in which kids connect to history. They provide concrete tools for audience research and evaluation; exhibition development and design; and working with kids as "creative consultants." The only book to focus comprehensively on history exhibits for kids, Connecting Kids to History With Museum Exhibitions shows how to enhance the experiences of a vitally important but frequently the least understood museum audience.

Daniel, whose family suffers as the Nazis rise to power in Germany, describes his imprisonment in a concentration camp and his eventual liberation.

The Museum Educator's Manual addresses the role museum educators play in today's museums from an experience-based perspective. Seasoned museum educators author each chapter, emphasizing key programs along with case studies that provide successful examples, and demonstrate a practical foundation for the daily operations of a museum education department, no matter how small. The book covers: volunteer and docent management and training; exhibit development; program and event design and implementation; working with families, seniors, and teens; collaborating with schools and other institutions; and funding. This second edition interweaves technology into every aspect of the manual and includes two entirely new chapters, one on Museums - An Educational Resource for Schools and another on Active Learning in Museums. With invaluable checklists, schedules, organizational charts, program examples, and other how-to documents included throughout, The Museum Educator's Manual is a 'must have' book for any museum educator.

"Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals" is a multi-disciplinary peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the discussion of all aspects of handling, preserving, researching, and organizing collections. Curators, archivists, collections managers, preparators, registrars, educators, students, and others contribute.

"Sponsored by the Museum Education Roundtable"--Provided by publisher.

Historical environments delight visitors because of their ability to make them feel transported to another time and place. These environments, found in both museum exhibitions and historic structures, are usually rich with objects that hint at deeper stories and context. But these spaces often lack rigor in terms of historical and interpretive methodology, along with a thoughtful and purposeful integration of storytelling principles. Spaces That Tell Stories: Creating Historical Environments offers a fresh look at historical environments, providing a roadmap for applying this rigor and integrating these principles into the creation of such environments. It begins by delving into the power of these environments for museum visitors, drawing upon multiple cross-disciplinary fields. An in-depth how-to methodology follows, which begins with the steps of framing the project by aligning it with institutional goals, defining audiences, involving visitor studies, and inviting community engagement. It continues through the steps of researching, creating, interpreting, refining, and evaluating the impact of the environment. The author’s methodology is applicable to environments in both historic structures and museum exhibits from different eras, places, and topics. It is also scalable to museums’ varying sizes and budgets. To give a sense of how the methodology laid out in this book translates into real-world practice, detailed case studies appear throughout, along with practical tips, checklists, charts, descriptive photographs, and source lists. An extensive bibliography follows. Spaces That Tell Stories: Creating Historical Environments is a unique contribution to the museum field. It is a must-read for museum professionals installing or upgrading historic environments, while the methodology and case studies also offer practical strategies for other museum professionals working with collections, exhibitions, and interpretation (and how these are integrated), thoughtful insights into museum practice for students, and a helpful toolkit for local historians.

In his book, Graham Black argues that museums must transform themselves if they are to remain relevant to 21st century audiences – and this root and branch change would be necessary whether or not museums faced a funding crisis. It is the result of the impact of new technologies and the rapid societal developments that we are all a part of, and applies not just to museums but to all arts bodies and to other agents of mass communication. Through comment, practical examples and truly inspirational case studies, this book allows the reader to build a picture of the transformed 21st century museum in practice. Such a museum is focused on developing its audiences as regular users. It is committed to participation and collaboration. It brings together on-site, online and mobile provision and, through social media, builds meaningful relationships with its users. It is not restricted by its walls or opening hours, but reaches outwards in partnership with its communities and with other agencies, including schools. It is a haven for families learning together. And at its heart lies prolonged user engagement with collections, and the conversations and dialogues that these inspire. The book is filled to the brim with practical examples. It features: an introduction that focuses on the challenges that face museums in the 21st century an analysis of population trends and their likely impact on museums boxes showing ideas, models and planning suggestions to guide development examples and case studies illustrating practice in both large and small museums an up-to-date bibliography of landmark research, including numerous websites Sitting alongside Graham Black’s previous book, The Engaging Museum, we now have a clear vision of a museum of the future that engages, stimulates and inspires the publics it serves, and plays an active role in promoting tolerance and understanding within and between communities.