Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Chicago : University of Chicago, 1996.

1. Caulton, Tim. Hands-on Exhibitions: Managing Interactive Museums and Science Centres. New York: Routledge, 1998. [AM151.C38 1998 Baylor University Strecker Museum]

Discusses the development and management of a hands-on exhibit. Includes a section on the financing and marketing involved. Written specifically for interactive and science museums. Includes bibliography.

2. Durbin, Gail, ed. Developing Museum Exhibitions for Lifelong Learning. London: The Stationery Office: GEM, Group for Education in Museums, 1996.

[AM 151 D48 1996 UGL]

Theory of exhibits, including theories of learning, kinds of audiences, and ways to interest them, exhibit planning, and labeling. Collection of articles written by different people with experience in museum studies.

3. Hall, Margaret. On Display: A Design Grammar for Museum Exhibitions. London: Lund Humphries, 1987. [AM151.H33 1987 Baylor University Strecker Museum]

General overview of museum displays. Unlike other sources it includes sections on specific kinds of objects, such as ceramics, armor, and costumes, and their use, location, security, conservation, cases, and other issues important in exhibit design.

4. Hayett, William. Display and Exhibit Handbook. New York: Reinhold, 1967. [AM151.H394x 1967 Baylor University Strecker Museum]

Guide for those serious about building exhibits from scratch. Though some of the methods are dated and do not reflect the today’s technology, some museums may find it useful for building simple, non-technical exhibits.

5. Levy, Shab. Cogs, Cranks, & Crates: Guidelines for Hands-on Traveling Exhibitions. Washington, D.C.: Association of Science-Technology Centers, 1989. [AM151.L489x 1989 Baylor University Strecker Museum]

Discusses designing, building, and transporting travelling exhibits. General discussion of such issues as materials to use, electrical issues, and safety. Each chapter is a list of points to keep in mind when constructing travelling exhibitions and includes illustrations.

6. Miles, Roger S. Design of Educational Exhibits. Boston: Allen & Unwin, 1988. [AM151.M554x 1988 Baylor University Strecker Museum]

Demonstrates the development, construction, evaluation, and maintenance of exhibits. Includes such components as scheduling projects, especially when working with a team, conservation, and choice of media.

7. Blais, Andree, ed. Text in the Exhibition Medium. Quebec: Societe des Musees Quebecois: Musee de la Civilisation, 1995. [AM151.E2513 1995 Baylor University Strecker Museum]

Good, detailed treatment of the use of text, both written and oral, in museum exhibits. Topics include "good" and "bad" displays, effective presentation of text that provides adequate information, and effective methods of providing audiocassettes for people to hear.

8. Museum Exhibit Lighting: An Interdisciplinary Approach: Conservation, Design, & Technology. San Diego: American Institute for Conservation, 1997. [AM151.M825x 1997 Baylor University Strecker Museum]

Collection of articles taken from the American Institute for Conservation’s 1997 conference about museum lighting. Contains ideas about types of lighting for museums and more effective ways to illuminate exhibits.

9. Neal, Arminta. Help! For the Small Museum: A Handbook of Exhibit Ideas and Methods. Boulder, Colo.: Pruett Press, 1973. [AM151 N38 PCL]

Intended for someone actually building a museum from the ground up. Includes exhibit location, design, comfort for visitors, construction material, and signage.

10. American Association of Museums. Available at: <http://www.aam-us.org> [Accessed 13 October 2000]

This professional website offers assistance and advice to those in the museum profession or those interested in museums. Information on meetings and conferences can also be found.

11. OCLC. Proceedings First (online database). Available at:

<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Indexes/P.html> [Accessed 26 October 2000].

Index of conference proceedings from around the world. Search using "museums" as keyword and the language as English. This will retrieve 30 records.

12. International Council on Museums. Available at: <http://www.icom.org> [Accessed 24 October 2000]

Website of museums on a world scale. Using the search option with the phrases "museum exhibits" and "virtual museums" will retrieve 40 and 41 results, respectively. Follow another link to the "Virtual Library Museums pages" for views of how other museums are developing virtual exhibits.

13. Archives and Museum Informatics. Available at: <http://www.archimuse.com> [Accessed 25 October 2000]

This is an excellent website for information about museums and the world wide web. Click on "conferences" and "museums and the web". Here is a list of "Museums and the Web" conference with links to professional papers delivered at the meetings.

14. OCLC. ArticleFirst (online database). Available at: <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Indexes/A.html> [Accessed 24 October 2000].

ArticleFirst is a database that indexes about 12,500 journals. Some articles come with full text. Search using "museum exhibit design" as a keyword and the years 1995-2000. Eight articles will be found.

15. Archives and Museum Informatics. Available at: <http://www.wkap.nl/jrnltoc.htm/1042-1467> [Accessed 26 October 2000]

Planning a museum is a major undertaking, the process of which can be frustrating and overwhelming, but the results of which can be very satisfying. Issues such as what kinds of items should be included, where the museum should be located, what the focus of the museum should be, and how to finance the construction of the museum are among the issues facing those developing a museum. As important as these issues are no amount of planning will help a museum if the exhibits are poor. This is true whether people visit the museum in person or only visit it through the museums web page on the World Wide Web. My client is looking for sources that will help him or her plan museum exhibits, both in-house and in a virtual setting. The sources selected for this pathfinder will help anyone planning museum exhibits, from the professional to the novice. The sources are intended specifically for an academic library

The sources included will help answer four questions. What are some methods of museum exhibit design? What are potential mistakes in exhibit design? What are the best methods to plan an exhibit to attract viewers? What are some of the technical issues of exhibit design that must be considered?

I began my search using UTNetCAT, University of Texas’ online catalog. Searching with the keywords "museum exhibits" retrieved 21 results. The majority of these were not about designing museum exhibits. Some were about specific exhibits and others were too general. I then did the same search term as subject but these results were no different. I also tried searching with the keywords "museum displays" but this search retrieved no results. I then chose to search Baylor University’s Bearcat library catalog. Because Baylor has a museum studies program I decided that checking there might produce better results. I again searched using "museum exhibits" as a keyword and retrieved 31 results. From these results and the results of my search through UTNetCAT I made my selections. Those items not available at UT can be obtained through InterLibrary Loan.

I included two books that are more than twenty years old because they provide descriptions of how to build exhibits and exhibits cases from scratch. I believe this information might be helpful to someone starting from nothing or someone building a small museum. The other sources I included discuss such topics as museum lighting, exhibit labeling, traveling exhibits, and theories of learning as they relate to museum exhibits. I also included the websites of the American Association of Museums, the International Council of Museums, the Archives and Museum Informatics, and a link through the University of Texas to the table of contents for a journal published by the Archives and Museum Informatics, all potential sources of useful ideas. Two indexes, ArticleFirst and Proceedings First, are included to help my client find professional papers and journal articles. I did not include sources that only discussed specific exhibits, sources that were about education and museums when those sources mentioned the use and development of exhibits only in passing, and those sources which are simply too general to be useful. I also did not include websites which only advertising their own exhibits and did not discuss designing or evaluating them. Searching the web was made much more difficult because of this. The sources I did select will help my client understand many of the issues involved in designing museum exhibits.

This pathfinder is also available at http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~vmuseum

Museums cannot exist without exhibits. Whether the museum is a concrete building or on the World Wide Web, exhibits are the foundation of museum. Poorly designed exhibits defeat the goal of the museum. Whether someone is experienced with museums or is a beginner, having quality exhibits is vital. With that goal in mind this pathfinder is written for those looking for information about museum exhibits, both in a museum and on the Internet. The sources listed here will guide the user from the design stage to the construction stage, and will assist him or her in learning more about what makes a good exhibit.

Hayett, William. Display and Exhibit Handbook. New York: Reinhold, 1967.

[AM151.H394x 1967 Baylor University Strecker Museum]

Even though the book is old the suggestions here are useful for those wanting to be build a simple, non-technical exhibit from scratch.

International Council of Museum. Available at: <http://www.icom.org> [Accessed 24 October 2000].

Association of American Museums. Available at: <http://www.aam-us.org> [Accessed 13 October 2000].

*This pathfinder is also available at http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~vmuseum