It’s hard to build a feeling of “wonder” on the internet. And that’s the reason people like me, who try to build online “experiences,” need to stay rooted in the natural world and museums.
After the recent National Association of Interpreters conference (geared toward interpretive staff at museums and national parks), I had the chance to wander through the extraordinary archeological site at Grimes Point, about 60 miles into the desert east of Reno. It was one of the best museum interpretive experiences I’ve had.
Picture this: a neat stone-lined trail winding around over a hundred boulders in the desert, many with markings etched anywhere from 500 to 7000 years ago. 7000 years!...before the pyramids, before the rise of cities. Why? What do they mean?
No one knows – the well-written signage tells me this. So, I actively try to read the meaning of these objects myself, looking as closely as I can. An animal? A constellation?
A sense of wonder, reading our own meaning, is central to learning. How do we best prepare museum visitors for this in exhibits?
