So many questions...

All of the readings today seemed to be all about asking questions whether it is the visitor asking, or the museum staff doing the asking. I thought the points brought up by both authors were valid as well. I really liked Nina Simon's ideas about the personal questions. A lot of times in museums people think of their personal lives because they will see objects that remind them of parts of their lives. They may see an antique table that looks just like one their grandmother had while they were growing up. Or they may see an outfit belonging to a celebrity and can recall seeing that person wear that specific outfit. So it makes sense as to why people answer the personal questions easier and more drawn out then some other questions that may not pertain to them. It also helps that society has become very self-centered so they are going to be more interested to answer questions about themselves. But I suppose it also helps that answering questions about yourself may not require as much thinking as say a question about any ideas for an exhibit or one that requires a good bit of thinking. They may not want to take the time to stop to think about those questions. So a lot of factors really play into why visitors are more willing to answer questions that are more personal to them. I also liked Falk's questions for "Re-envisioning the museum visitor experience." I think they are valid questions and would really help museums evaluate their typical visitors as well as figure out what will make their museum even better for their visitors. Both authors this week raised some good points about questions in the museum both from the visitor aspect as well as from the museums perspective.