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Useful terminology for museum beginners
Who are all these people?
and,
What did you call that?
Personnel:
To get your museum started, you'll need the services of...
- An architect whose job will be designing the building. S/he will work closely with the exhibit designer, to ensure that your exhibits fit into your building and that your building fits your exhibits. You will need an architect even if you are rehabbing an existing building.
- An exhibit designer whose job will be designing the exhibits. Most of your exhibits will be designed for your museum and your museum alone. There isn't a museum supermarket where one goes to shop for off-the-shelf exhibits. Exhibits must be designed, and the designer designs. S/he will work closely with the exhibit developer.
- An exhibit developer whose job is to work closely with you to determine and define the content of the exhibits. What will the exhibits be? Are they educationally sound? Will they work with visitors of all ages? What will people DO here? Researching and defining these experiences is the job of the exhibit developer.
- A builder or contractor builds the building.
- A fabricator builds the exhibits. For children's museums, it's important to choose a fabricator who understands the special needs of children and understands high levels of interactivity (and the implication of that on exhibit wear and tear).
Exhibit Terminology:
A 'gallery' is a formal term for the container that holds an exhibit - the walls or dividers that set off a distinct space which is an exhibit gallery.
The word 'exhibit' is used to describe the theme of a gallery. Example: the water exhibit; the farm exhibit. The interactive elements within an exhibit are the exhibit 'components'.
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