Planning and Mounting Library Exhibits
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The document outlines guidelines for planning and mounting library exhibits at Smathers Libraries, emphasizing the importance of storytelling, audience engagement, and collaboration. It details the policies for exhibitions, including the need for a complementary online presence and the avoidance of promoting external agendas. Key components for successful exhibits include clarity, innovation, and effective labeling to enhance visitor understanding and experience.
![Traditionally libraries “exist to collect objects
of informational importance, [while] the
museum is called upon to show objects of
significant cultural value.”
Glenn Willumson
Making Meaning: Displaced Materiality in the Library and Art Museum](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/planningmountinglibex-150707015532-lva1-app6891/85/Planning-and-Mounting-Library-Exhibits-2-320.jpg)
![Indicators of exhibit excellence from NAME
National Association for Museum Exhibition
• An aspect of the exhibition is innovative
• Offers a new perspective, new insight, or new information on a topic
• Synthesizes and presents knowledge and/or collection materials in a
provocative way
• Includes innovative uses of media, materials, and other design
elements
• Is particularly beautiful, exceptionally capable of engendering a
personal, emotional response, and/or profoundly memorable in a
constructive way
• Evokes responses from viewers that are evidence of a transforming
experience. It was haunting. The exhibition was an absolute eye-
opener. I'll never see [that] in the same way again. I was filled with
excitement. It knocked my socks off. It sent shivers down my spine. I
finally got it!
What makes a good exhibit?](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/planningmountinglibex-150707015532-lva1-app6891/85/Planning-and-Mounting-Library-Exhibits-9-320.jpg)
Planning and Mounting Library Exhibits
- 1. Planning & Mounting Library Exhibits Lourdes Santamaría-Wheeler Jessica Belcoure
- 2. Traditionally libraries “exist to collect objects of informational importance, [while] the museum is called upon to show objects of significant cultural value.” Glenn Willumson Making Meaning: Displaced Materiality in the Library and Art Museum
- 3. Resources available Exhibits website http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu • Policy http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/docs/ExhibitsPolicy.pdf • Resources for curators http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/resources.html – Timeline http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/docs/timeline.pdf – Exhibit Proposal form http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/docs/ExhibitProposal.pdf – Tips for labels http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/docs/labels.pdf – Template for ID labels http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/docs/IDlabels.pdf – Outgoing loan form http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/docs/OUTGOING_LOAN_AGREEMENT.pdf
- 4. Policy: http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/docs/ExhibitsPolicy.pdf • Goal of exhibition program is to highlight the collections • Use originals whenever possible from Smathers Libraries collections, borrow as appropriate to support/augment – Loans should not be the central feature, unless it is a traveling exhibit • Co-curating and collaboration within the Libraries’ various collections and with campus departments, the community, and other institutions is encouraged Implemented 2012 Smathers Libraries Exhibits Policy
- 5. Smathers Libraries Exhibits Policy Policy: http://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/docs/ExhibitsPolicy.pdf • The Libraries do not develop or host exhibits with the sole purpose of promoting agendas of organizations outside the Libraries, or to advocate for specific political, philosophical, or religious viewpoints. • Do not display unsolicited exhibits • Physical exhibitions created by the Libraries shall have complementary online component(s) as appropriate. All online material created for, or in conjunction with exhibitions shall be archived and publicly available in UFDC Implemented 2012
- 6. An exhibit is a story with interpretation, context, and scholarly content What story do you want to tell? What is an Exhibit?
- 7. What is an Exhibit? Exhibits are not objective, no matter how hard we try Exhibits are experiences. What visitors do & feel is as important as what they learn.
- 8. What is a Display? • Lacks interpretation and substance • Highlights items without explanations or context • Serves a more decorative/aesthetic function • Displays can be appropriate for some locations/content
- 9. Indicators of exhibit excellence from NAME National Association for Museum Exhibition • An aspect of the exhibition is innovative • Offers a new perspective, new insight, or new information on a topic • Synthesizes and presents knowledge and/or collection materials in a provocative way • Includes innovative uses of media, materials, and other design elements • Is particularly beautiful, exceptionally capable of engendering a personal, emotional response, and/or profoundly memorable in a constructive way • Evokes responses from viewers that are evidence of a transforming experience. It was haunting. The exhibition was an absolute eye- opener. I'll never see [that] in the same way again. I was filled with excitement. It knocked my socks off. It sent shivers down my spine. I finally got it! What makes a good exhibit?
- 10. What makes a good exhibit? • Everyone leaving the exhibit should be able to easily explain what it was about • Make the subject come to life • Conceptual simplicity • Emphasis on the connection among things – Makes the story make sense
- 11. Don’t expect visitors to spend more than 10-20 minutes in exhibit
- 12. Timing and Scheduling 12-24 months minimum for gallery spaces Custom timelines for larger exhibits Think beyond commemorative months and milestone anniversaries
- 13. Exhibit Ideas/Themes • Start with the collection, then develop idea – Otherwise the collection may not support your idea • Concrete ideas that don’t require much background information or explanation • Exhibit proposals
- 14. Audience • Know your audience – Who are they? What are they like? Why are they coming? • What do you want them to do? • Unintended audiences
- 15. Labels • Introductory (Curator Statement) – Introduces the big idea – Sets up the organization and tone of the exhibit – 50 - 200 words • ID (tombstone) – Not interpretive
- 16. Labels • Caption – Are not just a visual description of an item – Interpret individual items – Sometimes the only ones visitors read – 20 – 100 words, approximately 50 is ideal • Group – Are general – Explain/interpret a grouping of items – Introduce sub-themes – 20 – 150 words
- 17. Interpretive Labels • Conversational, less “lecture” tone • Narrative: beginning, middle & end • Just enough details to tell the story • Avoid technical, specialized terms, or anything that requires lengthy explanation • Not for your academic peers • Understandable without diluting content
- 18. Online Exhibits • Same principles as physical exhibits • Possibility to show/link to additional content – Can provide too much information and lose the viewer • Broader audience • Even less time expected from viewer
- 19. • Pre and Post Assessment – (Formative and Summative) • Can be formal or informal – No formal procedures in place yet – Have colleague or friend – neither who are familiar with subject – read labels, give feedback in general Assessment
- 20. Thank You Questions? Lourdes Santamaría-Wheeler [email protected] Jessica Belcoure [email protected] http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00014162