Friday 29 May 2015

How To Write the Perfect Museum Interpretation Panel

The museum interpretation panel is the bread and butter of any museum display. Properly written it provides an excellent opportunity for visitors to ignore it as they desperately press all the buttons on your broken interactive next to it.

In the words of Ernie Wise (younger readers can ask your parents who he was) if you have talent like what I have got then the beautifully crafted interpretation panel is within your reach. It is just a question of avoiding some obvious pitfalls.*

  • Steer clear of cliches; if you give them a wide berth then your panel will be the cat's whiskers.
  • Brevity is key; do not use more words for the general concept, idea or fact you are trying to express, articulate or explain
  • Always avoid, abnegate and abjure annoying and aggravating alliteration
  • Facts need to be specific, more or less
  • Complete sentences only, please
  • It goes without saying all verbs has to agree with subjects  
  • Parenthetical remarks (however pertinent) are (almost always) superfluous
  • The passive voice is to be avoided
  • Foreign words are de trop and suck the joie de vivre out of the text
  • Delete commas, that, are not, necessary
  • One should never generalise
  • Avoid ampersands & abbreviations etc.
  • Analogies on panels are like track suits on sloths
  • Never use big words when diminutive expressions will discharge the meaning more efficaciously
  • Never use quotations, as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "I hate quotations."
  • Who needs rhetorical questions?
  • Never mix your metaphors, even if your well turned phrase flies like a bird, it should still be given its marching orders
  • Exaggeration is a million times worse than understatement
  • Finally, proofread carefully to see if you any words out

By following these simple rules will turn you panel into something you will be proud for the general public to ignore. 




*My bible for all things factual and grammatical is  'How much poo does an elephant do?" by Mitchell Symons. Thanks to him for his tips and inspiration that I have passed onto you today - all museum professionals must own it.


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