Evaluation, Research and Communities of Practice: Program Evaluation in Museums |
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| Authors: | Lynda Kelly |
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| Institution: | (1) Head, Audience Research Centre, Australian Museum, 6 College Street, 2010 Sydney, NSW, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Museums present different contexts for learning, particularly when compared with places such as schooos, universities and
libraries. They have been described as free-choice learning environments visited by a broad range of people. Museums have
the opportunity to shape identities—through access to objects, knowledge and information visitors see themselves and their
culture reflected in ways that encourage new connections, meaning making and learning. However, across the world museums are
finding themselves competing with other leisure and learning experiences in an increasingly global world. The long history
of audience research in the cultural sector demonstrates the interest museums have had in their visitors over time. This paper
outlines the development of audience research in museums, the context within which it operates, and describes the processes
of audience research through a series of case studies drawn from the work of the Australian Museum Audience Research Centre.
It is argued that the shift in museums from mission-led program development to balancing content and audience needs through
a transaction approach requires a broader research-focused agenda. While traditional ways of conducting evaluations are necessary
and useful, to remain viable audience research needs to be more strategic, working across the sector in new ways and utilising
new methods. How programs impact on users and facilitate learning about a wide range of key issues that museums are concerned
with is a leadership role that audience research can take across both the cultural sector and other free-choice learning contexts.
To achieve this, a communities of practice approach is suggested as a potential framework for audience research in the contemporary
museum. |
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| Keywords: | audience research museum evaluation museum learning research visitor evaluation |
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