The Future and Inclusive Role of Natural History Museums

Blue, yellow, fluorescent lighting, computer terminals in every corner, exhibits resembling a Fisher Price toy or a wooden building kit—museums and science centres nowadays appear to be a cross between a computer technology exhibition and a child's dream of a playground. They reflect many of the efforts that are currently being devoted to making science and technology interesting for the younger generation, the one that will give rise to the scientists and engineers of the future. But also as science and technology increasingly impact on society, the 'shelf‐life' of formal education is becoming shorter and informal lifelong learning is becoming more important. The result is a flurry of activities instigated by politicians, scientists and educators to bring science to the people and increase their understanding. National Science Week, science buses touring the countryside and visitor days in research institutes are just a few examples of how they are reaching out to the public and, importantly, to the next generation of students. Museums and science centres form a prominent base for the communication of science, but despite their comparatively long history, the art of exhibiting science is relatively in its infancy. Dating back to the late 19th century, museums were then the theme parks of the day and important collections have been amassed in such mighty institutions as London's Science Museum, Munich's Deutsches Museum, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Particularly during the last decade, the USA has pioneered the creation of more informal interactive science centres, most famously with the Exploratorium in San Francisco in 1969. Today, virtually every major American city boasts its own version, some 300 in all. Europe has also witnessed a similar trend, to the extent that the distinction between museums and science centres …

In this article, environmental and climate practices in science and natural history museums in Türkiye are presented and discussed. While environmental and climate problems are global issues, they have local roots. As environmental issues are related to human activities and museums play a societal role, it is important to examine practices and approaches of museums in relation to the environment. Operations and practices of natural history and science museums in Türkiye, including educational activities, are important elements in communicating the risks of vulnerable environmental issue. This study outlines the environmental practices of the science and natural history museums of Türkiye which are commonly accepted as reliable providers of information to engage with audiences for action towards environmental challenges. Documentary research was conducted for the study. When the environmental practices and approaches are reviewed, it is seen that natural history museums function basically as research areas. Still, they have public education roles and organize educational activities about natural history, biodiversity and environment. While public education is one of the roles of natural history museums besides their conventional functions like collecting, conserving, researching and exhibiting, science centers are institutions dedicated to public education. Since science centers are mostly supported by municipalities, it can be said that they operate in a more sustainable and holistic way. Also, it is seen that their environmental reach-out programs offer a wider range. Based on data, we claim that collaboration with municipalities has an effect on the environmental activities and perspectives of museums. Also, climate-context works encourage museum community to make interdisciplinary works across the world. By presenting the current environmental and climate practices in natural history and science museums in Türkiye, it is aimed that the article can provide collaboration among institutions and advance the discussions among museums in the context of environment and climate.

The debate on the social role of museums trundles along in an age where complex associations between community, collections, and cultural norms are highly contested (Silverman 3–4; Sandell, Inequality 3–23). This article questions whether, in the case of community groups whose aspirations often go unrecognised (in this case people with either blindness or low vision), there is a need to discuss and debate institutionalised approaches that often reinforce social exclusion and impede cultural access. If “access is [indeed] an entry point to experience” (Papalia), then the privileging of visual encounters in museums is clearly a barrier for people who experience sight loss or low vision (Levent and Pursley). In contrast, a multisensory aesthetic to exhibition display respects the gamut of human sensory experience (Dudley 161–63; Drobnick 268–69; Feld 184; James 136; McGlone 41–60) as do discursive gateways including “lectures, symposia, workshops, educational programs, audio guides, and websites” (Cachia). Independent access to information extends beyond Braille on toilet doors.Underpinning this article is an ongoing qualitative case study undertaken by the author involving participant observation, workshops, and interviews with eight adults who experience vision impairment. The primary research site has been the National Museum of Australia. Reflecting on the role of curators as storytellers and the historical development of museums and their practitioners as agents for social development, the article explores the opportunities latent in museum collections as they relate to community members with vision impairment. The outcomes of this investigation offer insights into emerging issues as they relate to the International Council of Museums (ICOM) definitions of the museum program. Curators as Storytellers“The ways in which objects are selected, put together, and written or spoken about have political effects” (Eilean Hooper-Greenhill qtd. in Sandell, Inequality 8). Curators can therefore open or close doors to discrete communities of people. The traditional role of curators has been to collect, care for, research, and interpret collections (Desvallées and Mairesse 68): they are characterised as information specialists with a penchant for research (Belcher 78). While commonly possessing an intimate knowledge of their institution’s collection, their mode of knowledge production results from a culturally mediated process which ensures that resulting products, such as cultural significance assessments and provenance determinations (Russell and Winkworth), privilege the knowing systems of dominant social groups (Fleming 213). Such ways of seeing can obstruct the access prospects of underserved audiences.When it comes to exhibition display—arguably the most public of work by museums—curators conventionally collaborate within a constellation of other practitioners (Belcher 78–79). Curators liaise with museum directors, converse with conservators, negotiate with exhibition designers, consult with graphics designers, confer with marketing boffins, seek advice from security, chat with editors, and engage with external contractors. I question the extent that curators engage with community groups who may harbour aspirations to participate in the exhibition experience—a sticking point soon to be addressed. Despite the team based ethos of exhibition design, it is nonetheless the content knowledge of curators on public display. The art of curatorial interpretation sets out not to instruct audiences but, in part, to provoke a response with narratives designed to reveal meanings and relationships (Freeman Tilden qtd. in Alexander and Alexander 258). Recognised within the institution as experts (Sandell, Inclusion 53), curators have agency—they decide upon the stories told. In a recent television campaign by the National Museum of Australia, a voiceover announces: a storyteller holds incredible power to connect and to heal, because stories bring us together (emphasis added). (National Museum of Australia 2015)Storytelling in the space of the museum often shares the histories, perspectives, and experiences of people past as well as living cultures—and these stories are situated in space and time. If that physical space is not fit-for-purpose—that is, it does not accommodate an individual’s physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, or neurological needs (Disability Discrimination Act 1992, Cwlth)—then the story reaches only long-established patrons. The museum’s opportunity to contribute to social development, and thus the curator’s as the primary storyteller, will have been missed. A Latin-American PerspectiveICOM’s commitment to social development could be interpreted merely as a pledge to make use of collections to benefit the public through scholarship, learning, and pleasure (ICOM 15). If this interpretation is accepted, however, then any museum’s contribution to social development is somewhat paltry. To accept such a limited and limiting role for museums is to overlook the historical efforts by advocates to change the very nature of museums. The ascendancy of the social potential of museums first blossomed during the late 1960s at a time where, globally, overlapping social movements espoused civil rights and the recognition of minority groups (Silverman 12; de Varine 3). Simultaneously but independently, neighbourhood museums arose in the United States, ecomuseums in France and Quebec, and the integral museum in Latin America, notably in Mexico (Hauenschild; Silverman 12–13). The Latin-American commitment to the ideals of the integral museum developed out of the 1972 round table of Santiago, Chile, sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Giménez-Cassina 25–26). The Latin-American signatories urged the local and regional museums of their respective countries to collaborate with their communities to resolve issues of social inequality (Round Table Santiago 13–21). The influence of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire should be acknowledged. In 1970, Freire ushered in the concept of conscientization, defined by Catherine Campbell and Sandra Jovchelovitch as:the process whereby critical thinking develops … [and results in a] … thinker [who] feels empowered to think and to act on the conditions that shape her living. (259–260)This model for empowerment lent inspiration to the ideals of the Santiago signatories in realising their sociopolitical goal of the integral museum (Assunção dos Santos 20). Reframing the museum as an institution in the service of society, the champions of the integral museum sought to redefine the thinking and practices of museums and their practitioners (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 37–39). The signatories successfully lobbied ICOM to introduce an explicitly social purpose to the work of museums (Assunção dos Santos 6). In 1974, in the wake of the Santiago round table, ICOM modified their definition of a museum to “a permanent non-profit institution, open to the public, in the service of society and its development” (emphasis added) (Hauenschild). Museums had been transformed into “problem solvers” (Judite Primo qtd. in Giménez-Cassina 26). With that spirit in mind, museum practitioners, including curators, can develop opportunities for reciprocity with the many faces of the public (Guarini). Response to Social Development InitiativesStarting in the 1970s, the “second museum revolution” (van Mensch 6–7) saw the transition away from: traditional roles of museums [of] collecting, conservation, curatorship, research and communication … [and toward the] … potential role of museums in society, in education and cultural action. (van Mensch 6–7)Arguably, this potential remains a work in progress some 50 years later. Writing in the tradition of museums as agents of social development, Mariana Lamas states:when we talk about “in the service of society and its development”, it’s quite different. It is like the drunk uncle at the Christmas party that the family pretends is not there, because if they pretend long enough, he might pass out on the couch. (Lamas 47–48)That is not to say that museums have neglected to initiate services and programs that acknowledge the aspirations of people with disabilities (refer to Cachia and Krantz as examples). Without discounting such efforts, but with the refreshing analogy of the drunken uncle still fresh in memory, Lamas answers her own rhetorical question:how can traditional museums promote community development? At first the word “development” may seem too much for the museum to do, but there are several ways a museum can promote community development. (Lamas 52) Legitimising CommunitiesThe first way that museums can foster community or social development is to:help the community to over come [sic] a problem, coming up with different solutions, putting things into a new perspective; providing confidence to the community and legitimizing it. (Lamas 52)As a response, my doctoral investigation legitimises the right of people with vision impairment to participate in the social and cultural aspects of publicly funded museums. The Australian Government upheld this right in 2008 by ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (and Optional Protocol), which enshrines the right of people with disability to participate in the cultural life of the nation (United Nations).At least 840,700 people in Australia (a minimum of four per cent of the population) experiences either blindness or low vision (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2009). For every one person in the Australian community who is blind, nearly five other people experience low vision. The medical model of disability identifies the impairment as the key feature of a person and seeks out a corrective intervention. In contrast, the social model of disability strives to remove the attitudinal, social, and phys

Museum visitors and non-visitors in Germany: A representative survey

Recommandations pour la pratique clinique

In the last two years, the term social inclusion has been widely adopted, though frequently misapplied, within UK museum sector policy and rhetoric. Originally understood by many to be simply a synonym for access or audience development, (concepts that most within the sector are at least familiar, if not entirely comfortable, with), there is now growing recognition that the challenges presented by the inclusion agenda are, in fact, much more significant and the implications more fundamental and far-reaching1. A growing body of research into the social role and impact of museums suggests that engagement with the concepts of social inclusion and exclusion will require museums - and the profession and sector as a whole - to radically rethink their purposes and goals and to renegotiate their relationship to, and role within, society. In short, if museums are to become effective agents for social inclusion, a paradigmatic shift in the purpose and role of museums in society, and concomitant changes in working practices, will be required. Though the focus of this paper, the instigation of change, draws upon government policy development and research within the UK context, a consideration of the relevance of the concept of social inclusion to the museum highlights the broader, international relevance of this discussion.

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 955 Baird, Goode established the public dimension of the “nation’s attic” and defined its mission for collections, learning, and enjoyment. Baird chose wisely. Goode, an ichthyologist, was a capable naturalist, a gifted administrator, and, as this volume shows, a skilled and prolific writer. This collection of five essays prepared by Goode from 1886 to 1890 will refresh educators of all sorts who endure the verbiage of career bureaucrats. Goode, for example, could open with an ancient Oriental saying and then recast its meaning into an entire address on museums of the future. Historians and others interested in museum studies will also enjoy Goode’s discussions of early natural history and institutions of science and learning. In a 1988 publication, editor Sally Gregory Kohlstedt penned a memorable phrase when she described 19th-century college museums as “symbols and mechanisms for education.” Goode, himself a prod­ uct of college museums at Wesleyan University (the Orange Judd Hall of Natural Science) and Harvard University (Louis Agassiz’s Museum ofComparative Zoology), understood the use ofboth the symbol and the mechanism. In a beautiful image, free of any intellectual arrogance, he pictured the best museum as a “house full of ideas.” Goode’s essays are filled with ideas that have guided the development of museums in the United States. His analysis of the history of science is perhaps overly simple, but to his credit Goode saw present lessons in past events. Editor Kohlstedt has provided a helpful introductory biography on Goode and a good index for these essays, but leave room on the bookshelf. I hope Kohlstedt will give us more on Goode. As fine as this work is, it begs for companions—a full biography of Goode and the rest of his papers. Welcome additions, too, would be a bibliography and archival photographs of Goode’s house of ideas, particularly (and this is a note to the publisher) in a book of this price. In the meantime, readers still curious about Goode as a “museum master” are directed to Ed­ ward P. Alexander’s 1983 work of similar title (Museum Masters: Their Museums and Their Influence [Nashville, Tenn., 1983]) and to Goode’s contributions to the Annual Reports of the Smithsonian Institution. Charlotte M. Porter Dr. Porter, associate curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, is a historian of science interested in the role of museums in modern society. Her essay on this subject was recently published as “Natural History in the 20th Century: An Oxymoron?” in Natural History Museums: Directionsfor Growth, ed. Paisley S. Cato and Clyde Jones (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1991). Moltke, Schlieffen, and Prussian War Planning. By Arden Bucholz. Providence, R.I.: Berg Publishers, 1991; distributed by St. Martin’s Press. Pp. xi + 352; glossary, notes, bibliography, index. $59.95. This book’s interest for the student of technology is not immedi­ ately apparent because we generally think of technology in terms of 956 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE artifacts and the subject here is planning. But technology also encompasses organizational schemes and methods of accumulating and exploiting knowledge. It is in this sense, albeit implicitly, that Arden Bucholz approaches the development of what he terms “deep-future-oriented” planning in the Prussian military establish­ ment between the wars of the French Revolution and the beginning of World War I. Moreover, the impact of railroads and the demands of operating them efficiently is a major subsidiary theme. The work is multifaceted, but the central strand of continuity is an account of the systematic development of what Bucholz terms the “first process” of bureaucratically organized peacetime war planning. As he presents it, convincingly in my view, the key developments in chronological order were as follows: the systematic collection of information for planning purposes and the development of bureau­ cratic structures to support the process, initially focusing on cartog­ raphy and map making; the development and use—or misuse—of official military history to provide the officer corps with a common frame of reference; the development and systematic use of war gaming for training and planning; and the demands of railroad mobilization as an increasingly preemptive driving factor in...

Natural History museums are well known and even famous for the multiple educational opportunities they offer to the public, which includes international visitors, and students and schools. This paper introduces a new role for museums, as sites for the education and certification of new science teachers. In 2017, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) completed evaluation of its initial six years as the first museum-based Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Earth science program in the USA. The program was conceptualized in response to multiple levels of local and national education policies, and the still cur-rent need to improve Earth science education for all students, especially those designated ‘at-risk.’ Race to the Top (RTTT) in New York State and the National Commission on Teaching for America’s Future had been call-ing for the reconceptualization of teacher education for several years. MAT began as a pilot program authorized by NYS, the result of a competition for inno-vation in the design of programs outside the traditional university structures that corre-sponded to areas of need (at the inter-section of the sciences and quality education for New English Learners and students with learning disabilities). In developing the museum-specific part of the program, theoretical perspectives from research on Strands of Learning Science in Informal In-stitutions, Spatial thinking, and Place-based Learning. Also the selection of candidates required background in one of the Earth Science fields. In addition, scientists and curators became part of the faculty and directed the field and laboratory residencies at the end of the school year and before beginning to teach in schools. After three years, the pilot was fully authorized to grant its own degrees. The institution operates on multiple levels: it is a teaching residency program that awards degrees, maintains strong partnerships with schools, is a member of the network of Independent Colleges and Universities in New York State, and provides on-site graduate courses for other col-leges and universities on the educational role of, and research on, informal learning in science institutions. The museum is at the heart of the program’s design. Courses include research on learning in museums, pedagogical content knowledge re-garding science, and experiential residencies geared toward preparing candidates to teach in both museums and public schools, as well as conduct independent and team science research. Courses are co-taught by scientists and educators, and are designed to use museum exhibitions and resources, including current and past scientific research, technology, and online teaching tools in order to facilitate instruction, demonstrate the nature of science, and com-plement science with cultural histories that highlight the role of science in society. Evaluation evidence indicates the program has been successful in pre-paring teachers to teach in high-needs urban schools in New York State. An external-impact quanti-tative study by NYU, focused on student performance on the standardized New York State Earth Science Regents Examination, indicated that (1) students of MAT graduates are doing as well as students taught by other Earth science teachers with similar years of experience in New York City; and (2) demographically, MAT teachers instruct a higher percentage of students with lower economic and academic profiles. This paper focuses on how the program design utilizes all aspects of a natural history museum to offer the science museum community, teacher educators, and policy-makers new approaches for the preparation of teachers and the education of their students.

Scientists can reap personal rewards through collaborations with science and natural history museums, zoos, botanical gardens, aquaria, parks, and nature preserves, and, while doing so, help to advance science literacy and broaden participation in the natural sciences. Beyond volunteer opportunities, which allow scientists to contribute their knowledge and passion within the context of existing programs and activities, there are also opportunities for scientists to bring their knowledge and resources to the design and implementation of new learning experiences for visitors to these informal science learning organizations (ISLOs). Well-designed education outreach plans that leverage the expertise and broad audiences of ISLOs can also enhance the prospects of research grant proposals made to agencies such as National Science Foundation, which encourage researchers to pay careful attention to the broader impacts of their research as well as its intellectual merit. Few scientists, however, have had the opportunity to become familiar with the pedagogy and design of informal or "free-choice" science learning, and fewer still know how to go about the process of collaborating with ISLOs in developing and implementing effective programs, exhibits, and other learning experiences. This article, written by an experienced science museum professional, provides guidance for individual scientists and research groups interested in pursuing effective education outreach collaborations with science museums and other ISLOs. When prospective partners begin discussions early in the proposal development process, they increase the likelihood of successful outcomes in funding, implementation, and impact. A strategic planning worksheet is provided, along with a carefully-selected set of further resources to guide the design and planning of informal science learning experiences.

This article explores the question of how transnational audiences experience anthropology exhibitions in particular, and the natural history museum overall. Of interest are the ways in which natural history museums reconcile anthropological notions of humanity's shared evolutionary history—in particular, African origins accounts—with visitors' complex cultural identities. Through case studies of British, American, and Kenyan museum audiences, this research probed the cultural preconceptions that museum visitors bring to the museum and use to interpret their evolutionary heritage. The research took special notice of audiences of African descent, and their experiences in origins exhibitions and the natural history museums that house them. The article aims to draw connections between natural history museums and the dynamic ways in which museum visitors make meaning. As museums play an increasing role in the transnational homogenization of cultures, human origins exhibitions are increasingly challenged to communicate an evolutionary prehistory that we collectively share, while validating the cultural histories that make us unique.

Reviewed by: Museums, History and Culture in Malaysia by Abu Talib Ahmad Cynthia Chou Museums, History and Culture in Malaysia Abu Talib Ahmad Singapore: NUS Press, 2015. xiii, 328 pp. ISBN 978-9971-69819-5 (paperback) Museums and the museumizing imagination are both well-known and powerful instruments that have been used for purposes of nation building. Cultural memory and understanding of heritage have been shaped by carefully crafted museum exhibits to articulate messages about national identity. Abu Talib Ahmad’s book, Museums, History and Culture in Malaysia provides an analysis of the way museums in Malaysia narrate history within the context of a defined nationalist agenda that accords primacy to Malay Muslim values. The book opens with an introduction that situates the analysis within the wider discussion and debates revolving around the role of museums. There are altogether five chapters plus an Introduction cum Conclusion that make up the book. Maps and photographs of museum exhibits evoke relevant visual images for readers not only to follow but also to see the issues under discussion. Malaysia’s National Museum provides the focal point for the inquiry into the tensions in the state’s national narratives as expressed in museum displays and designs. A close scrutiny of the National Museum shows the trajectories of change that it has undertaken or been subjected to in order for it to represent the nation’s official history and culture. With its origins as a general museum, the National Museum once served as a repository for displays of natural history specimens and a place that narrated the colonial experience. Following Malaysian independence, the Museum has undergone extensive transformation as it is now tasked with an obligation to promulgate a particular story of national history and culture. Using the case studies of other museums and memorials in Malaysia, comparisons are made to examine how these museums narrate stories of alternative histories that are not necessarily always in acquiescence with the national history as portrayed by the National Museum. Selected museums throughout the country—in Penang, Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Sabah, Kelantan and Terengganu—as well as three memorials dedicated to national heroes (such as former Prime Ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and film and recording artist P. Ramlee) are brought to the fore in this discussion. Based on diverse data obtained from visits to museums, interviews with museum bureaucrats past and present, archival research and textual analysis of museum publications that include annual reports and issues of the Federation Museums Journal, the dynamics of changing museological approaches are examined [End Page 119] together with the tensions they express or engender concerning Malaysia’s history and culture. This is a meticulously detailed historiography. It is a bold and thought-provoking work that shows the extent to which numerous other museums in Malaysia contest the National Museum’s account of the country’s historical experience. Cogent arguments are made concerning how the politics of knowledge comes into play in the way different museums have contesting stories to tell in regard to a swathe of subjects that are highly sensitive, if not controversial, in Malaysia. These include the country’s pre-Islamic past, the history and heritage of the Melaka Sultanate, memories of the Japanese occupation, the country’s national cultural policy, and the cultural variances between the Federation’s constituent states. This study unveils how exclusions and silences cover aspects that are deemed politically and religiously incorrect. Concluding with a caution that glossing over aspects of Malaysia’s history and culture would only serve to exclude segments of the nation’s pluralistic population and hence impact negatively upon visitor interests, a challenge is posed to museums to change the way they organize their displays to address the kind of nation building that is needed in Malaysia today. This absorbing read is the direct result of Abu Talib Ahmad’s rigorous scholarship and ability to present his work in a clearly written and thus easily comprehensible style. This book is highly recommended not only to specialists in museum studies, but to anyone interested in understanding the dynamics that shape the history and culture of Malaysia. Cynthia Chou University of Copenhagen Copyright © 2015...

The Museum of World Culture opened in 2004, partially in response to the increased immigration of the 1990s. This article analyses the political process leading to the establishment of the museum, and of the government agency that administers it and three other museums. It also analyses one of its permanent exhibitions, and the recent examples of public criticism of the museum, and of the government agency. Using conceptual history and analysis of historical periodization to analyze understandings of culture, history, and the role of museums, I argue that the museum represents a museum-idea focused on current issues, understanding history in terms of flows and encounters, in contrast to a museum-idea focusing on particular cultures and historical contexts and on understanding these as distinctly separate and context-dependent. Debate about the museum has become intertwined with the debate about the history, and nature, of the Swedish nation, making the museum both, a symbol of, and an actor in, the ongoing debate about Swedish national self-identity. The museum can thus be understood as a national museum, in the sense that it institutionalizes a version of national self-identity, and acts as a focus for debates about it.

The consumption of the tourist product relates to a series of visitor experiences that shape overall visitor evaluation. Such experiences pertain to how visitors sense, relate and act when consuming these products. Museums, safeguarding cultural heritage, contribute significantly to this experience by providing exclusive insights and interaction with (in) authentic exhibits of many areas, such as islands. Nonetheless, in many islands, museums have not been fully developed as destination features and thus, significant opportunities to utilise museums' visitor experience to enrich the tourist offering, are lost. In this respect, the paper examines the experiences of tourists with cultural museums in the island of Cyprus, from the policy makers and museums' managers' perspective. Specifically, through face to face interviews with 13 representatives of tourism policy/museums, the study indicates that the role of museums is important for the formation of visitor/tourist experiences while certain elements appeal to visitors' engagement in museum settings. The paper concludes that museums could provide holistic memorable experience that can help actively diversify the tourism products of islands. In this respect, emphasis must be given upon how experiences are created having in mind also that visitors are increasingly becoming value co-creators in this experience.

The consumption of the tourist product relates to a series of visitor experiences that shape overall visitor evaluation. Such experiences pertain to how visitors sense, relate and act when consuming these products. Museums, safeguarding cultural heritage, contribute significantly to this experience by providing exclusive insights and interaction with (in) authentic exhibits of many areas, such as islands. Nonetheless, in many islands, museums have not been fully developed as destination features and thus, significant opportunities to utilise museums' visitor experience to enrich the tourist offering, are lost. In this respect, the paper examines the experiences of tourists with cultural museums in the island of Cyprus, from the policy makers and museums' managers' perspective. Specifically, through face to face interviews with 13 representatives of tourism policy/museums, the study indicates that the role of museums is important for the formation of visitor/tourist experiences while certain elements appeal to visitors' engagement in museum settings. The paper concludes that museums could provide holistic memorable experience that can help actively diversify the tourism products of islands. In this respect, emphasis must be given upon how experiences are created having in mind also that visitors are increasingly becoming value co-creators in this experience.

Visual literacy has not been a common topic in natural history museums. The visitor experience in those institutions is nonetheless object centred and a more visually connection could lead to stronger emotional experiences that promote lasting memories and the construction of meanings. Visual communication has also a universal character, which is of relevance in international environments like museums, where visitors present an array of backgrounds, motivations and disabilities. Augmented Reality, a promising technology in the rise of visitors' engagement, can offer strong visual interpretive experiences and is being used for the renovation of a Victorian-age skeleton exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The Osteology Hall augmented reality app will perform with real time tracking and object recognition to enable the visualization of the animals' unique anatomical features and the roles they play in the environment, to motivate learning, and increase the enjoyment and memorableness of the experience.