Museums today use various methods to encourage a participatory approach to interpretation. Some benefit from involving people with a personal or working experience of particular collections in production of interpretive material or to act as guides. They can perform a critical advocacy role by communicating their knowledge or enthusiasm for a subject or site, and can add enormously to the visitor experience.
MDA�s �Revisiting Collections�
SMC is pleased to be working with MDA to promote a ground-breaking initiative which encourages museums to systematically record and use the recollections, responses and views of visitors to objects. By recording emotional and subjective reactions to collections, existing documentation can be enriched with the type of information which has often been omitted � the personal, cultural, social and community connections that we often have with objects.
This new framework has been incorporated into the recently revised museum documentation standard SPECTRUM, and MDA is working with leading documentation software system suppliers to integrate it with existing programmes.
An introduction to the Revisiting Collections methodology, along with background information and examples of how it has been put into practice are all available on Collections Link:
http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/increase_access/revisiting_collections/revisiting_introduction
