Visitor studies Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This essay offers a case study about the Wildwalk museum in Bristol, UK. Wildwalk, originally called Wildscreen, was the brainchild of the internationally renowned wildlife documentary producer Christopher Parsons. Parsons conceived of the attraction as a peripatetic version of wildlife TV; Wildwalk was, in effect, to bring together the best of wildlife films and natural history museums – but also zoos and even botanic gardens – in order to promote a better understanding of biodiversity. Despite some initial success, the museum, which opened in time for Britain's Millennium celebrations, was forced to close less than seven years after it opened. The chapter develops a genealogical inquiry, and employs social semiotic analyses to describe the museum's remarkable innovations, but also to explain its failure to bring to fruition a truly new genre of exhibition.

- by Nils Lindahl Elliot
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- Museum Studies, Visitor studies, Museum Education, History of Museums

Supplément Musées. D’Lëtzebuerger Land 21 (2016).

- by Laurence Brasseur
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- Museum Studies, Visitor studies, Audience Research, Luxembourg

Fondé sur une enquête de terrain réalisée auprès des visiteurs de six expositions consacrées à la Grande Guerre en France, cet article propose d'éclairer la place et les formes discursives du politique dans les musées d'histoire. Une caractéristique des discours et pratiques de nombreux individus est mise en avant : la visite des expositions historiques est perçue comme une activité apolitique tout en étant traversée par le politique. Tandis que le texte s'emploie à circonscrire les espaces et conditions de politisation du musée d'histoire par ces visiteurs, ceux-ci emploient des processus de dépolitisation à travers deux registres, historien et mémoriel, témoignant ainsi d'un visionnage du passé hors-champs du politique.

- by Sylvain Antichan and +1
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- Political Sociology, Museum Studies, Visitor studies, Memory Studies
- by Elena Villaespesa
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- Museum Studies, Digital Museum, Online Museum, Visitor studies
- by Hui Chen
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- History, Cultural Heritage, Visitor studies, Learning
- by Susan Jacobson
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- Education, Environmental Education, Visitor studies, Natural History

This article addresses Rachel’s Tomb as a site of heightened ritual activity and pilgrimage, whose popularity increased during the latter years of the British Mandate in Palestine, and whose role and meaning as a symbolic public site have been transformed. We examine how a set of meanings has been established at the site at the particular historic moment, converging local and national meanings, on the one hand, with religious, heritage and touristic meanings, on the other. Our approach is integrative, and we situate our inquiry by addressing three main conceptual points: the first is the site’s geo-physical characteristics, by which we refer to its functionality in terms of location, accessibility, and mobility, as well as in terms of the site’s size and material characteristics. The second point concerns the agentive interventions of the site’s renowned shamash, Shlomo Eliyahu Freimann, and the crucial role that he played in transforming the site’s collective function and public status. The third point concerns a corpus of documents, most of which were written in situ, that center around the site’s impressive visitor books, filled with numerous notations. Study of these documents suggests a hybrid genre that is part of the site’s changing discursive ecology.

- by Chaim Noy
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- Tourism Studies, Jewish Studies, Travel Writing, Middle East Studies

Animal-Visitor Interactions (AVI) within zoos and aquariums have become an increasingly studied topic. Influenced by both the broader field of Human-Animal Interactions (HAI), as well as visitor studies conducted in museums, AVI studies can be separated into two areas of focus: (1) Visitor effects, or the impact visitors have on the animals housed within a zoo, and (2) visitor experiences, or the impact zoo animals and visiting a zoo have on the visitors. Historically, visitor effects have been of primary concern to the study of AVIs, as have the potential negative impacts on the welfare of animals, particularly those of zoo primates. This special issue examines the impact of AVIs in greater detail through twelve recent papers on the topic, equally addressing visitor effects and experiences. Many of the papers focus on positive welfare indices, as well as less traditional measures to examine both visitor effects and experiences, such as visitor proximity and visitor interviews. In addition, we discuss the relevance of future AVI work, with particular attention to (a) increased interest in visitor experience research, (b) examinations of signage effects, and (c) continued focus on positive welfare indices and direct interactions, such as public feedings.

Çağdaş Müzecilik Anlayışı pazarlama, halkla ilişkiler ve reklamcılığı kapsayan yeni alanlara vurgu yapar. Denilebilir ki, müzelerin bu yeni vasıfları, postmodern müzenin ortaya çıkmasına yol açmıştır. Müzeyi milli ideoloji ve toplumsal hafızanın gelecek kuşaklara aktarıldığı, kutsal ve muhafazakâr mekân olarak tanımlayan modern müzecilik anlayışının tam tersini simgeler postmodern müzecilik. Öte yandan, bu yeni görünüm, 21. yüzyıl tüketim toplumunun müzelere yansıması olarak da değerlendirilebilir.

- by Elif Çiğdem Artan
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- Museum Studies, Museum, Visitor studies, Museums

This article uses visitor research to explore public attitudes to the British Museum and perceptions of its relationship to the history of the British Empire. Firstly, it provides an analysis of direct messages received by the Museum over a twelve month period via letters, emails and comments on social media platforms. Secondly, it draws on short interviews undertaken with visitors upon arrival at the Museum before entry. Thirdly, it draws on formative and summative evaluation for two recent British Museum special exhibitions that explicitly addressed imperial and colonial histories, ‘Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilization’ (23 April – 2 August 2015) and South Africa: The Art of a Nation’ (27 October 2016–26 February 2017). Finally, it draws on focus groups (April 2018) held to explore perceptions of the Museum held by culturally active non-visitors. Collectively this insight highlights the Museum’s vast potential to inform contemporary debates about empire by developing new approaches to displaying and interpreting its collection.

- by Stuart Frost
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- Museum Studies, Visitor studies

Une étude quantitative menée auprès de 916 visiteurs d’un musée français a permis de mesurer les bénéfices expérientiels retirés de l’usage d’un outil interactif dans un contexte muséal et de vérifier si le vécu diffère en fonction de l’utilisation ou non d’un outil numérique de médiation et de sa nature (mobile ou fixe), mais également en fonction de la prise en compte de dimensions fonctionnelle ou hédonique de l’expérience d’usage.

This article discusses the authenticity of the experience of the Holocaust through museum architecture. This issue arose during the writer's visitor research conducted at European Jewish museums with the aim of examining the effect of the spatial design on Holocaust memory construction. From Aristotle and Plato to Benjamin and Heidegger and with the support of psychoanalytic concepts of Freud, Lacan, and Jung, we acknowledge different theories that approach the experiential and existential dimensions of authenticity; pursuing self-discovery and overcoming experiential challenges are the two central axes that will help us identify the different categories of visitors according to the kind of authenticity they quest for and the cause of its necessity. Moreover, the juxtaposition between the Museum and the actual site, such as a concentration camp, apart from raising questions of veracity and representation-which one provides a " real " account of the past?-posits problems of ethics, appropriation, materiality, narrativity, and empathy and, finally, leads to a salient issue: how different is memory from commemoration and which " locus " represents better each one of them; the Museum or the site? Is such a question legitimate?

- by Xenia Tsiftsi
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- Architecture, Visitor studies, Authenticity, Memory Studies

Live interpretation offers unique ways to interact with visitors to AOAM. During the EU-funded OpenArch project (2011-2015), studies were made exploring the way visitors interact with the interpreters and interpretations. Results of these... more

- by Marc van Hasselt
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- Archaeology, Museum Studies, Visitor studies, Live Interpretation

Traditionally, museums are considered places of cultural education of the social, cultural and economic elites. This perspective is still embraced by a wide public even if the character and role of museums in the contemporary society changed significantly. Nowadays museums are equally educators for the masses, places of discovery and experiment, community centers, or spaces of entertainment. Their public offer has changed accordingly, museums proposing their visitors experience not only interactive exhibitions but also all sorts of public programs. In this context, one would expect the number of museum visitors to have increased a lot in the last decade. Still, the figures, especially for Romania, do not reflect this situation. Why? The answers could be multiple, from the inadequate image that museums still have, to the experiences that people have when entering a museum which are not rewarding enough. To respond to this question, a complex investigation would be needed. The point of departure would be the visitor, who does not seem to respond positively to the proposals of the museum. The present paper is just the beginning in this exploration. By means of focus-groups, it investigates the patterns of visitation: what are visitors doing in an exhibition and which are their interests that generate a certain behavior. Since it is just an exploratory investigation, the present analysis is limited to three focus-groups conducted in Bucharest, Romania, and to the segment of the public formed by young people

This paper explores the potential of tangible and embodied interaction for encouraging a multisensory engagement with museum objects and artefacts on display, by means of focusing on the subtleties of devising and planning for evaluation and audience research. Measuring the impact of new technologies is one of the main challenges identified in the 2015 NMC Horizon report (Museum Edition). The challenge is even greater for emerging concepts, technologies, and approaches, such as the use of tangible and embodied interaction in museums and other Cultural Heritage settings. Taking as an example two case-studies from the EU meSch project, from Museon and Allard Pierson Museum in the Netherlands, we discuss our plan for devising and carrying out audience research so as to " document, " analyse, and interpret the impact of digitally enhanced, tangible, embodied, and multisensory museum visiting experiences. Our intention is to provide an honest account of the different strengths and weaknesses encountered for all evaluation methodologies that were used, namely observations, interviews, video data, questionnaires, meaning maps, and post-visit interviews. We also share and discuss lessons learned, insights and best practices that could be of benefit for museum and audience research professionals.

- by Areti Damala and +2
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- Museum learning, Museum Studies, Digital Curation, Visitor studies

Definition of nine visit segments of the Tate website

- by Elena Villaespesa
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- Museum Studies, Digital Museum, Online Museum, Museum
- by Dimitra Christidou
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- Museum Studies, Museum, Visitor studies, Museums and Exhibition Design

Animal-Visitor Interactions (AVIs) have become commonplace in zoological institutions and facilities globally. However, most AVI research focuses on the effects of visitors on the welfare of animals, with considerably fewer studies examining the visitor experience itself. Furthermore, robust evaluations of the efficacy of zoo education programs and engagements for increasing visitor awareness of conservation issues, and for fostering longterm pro-conservation behavior changes in them, are under-researched. This paper reviews the current literature that pertains to the effects of zoo visitation and AVIs on visitor perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. We briefly note some of the known effects that zoo visitors have on zoo animals, then explore the effects that factors such as enclosure design, animal visibility and behaviors, and AVIs can have on visitors' overall experience whilst attending the zoo. We suggest that future research needs to more closely examine the relationships and interactions between zoo visitors and zoo animals; why some zoo visitors over others repeat visitation; what the differences in beliefs and attitudes may be between "zoo visitors" and "non-zoo visitors" (i.e., other general public); and to make a concerted effort to understand: (1) what visitors do after they leave the zoo, and (2) whether visitors adopt long-term proconservation behaviors into their daily lives. We further suggest that future research needs to start investigating indirect measures related to the visitor experience, such as: (a) individual conservation support outside of the zoo; (b) internet activity; (c) changes in sustainable purchasing practices related to knowledge gains; (d) financial investment in sustainable or ethical companies after knowledge gains; (e) and the longitudinal effects of zoo visits.

Tourism researchers have identified the impact of perceived risk on destination choice and travel behaviour, and differences in general traveller risk perceptions based on both traveller and trip characteristics. However, such research has neglected the travel of international university students, despite the expansion and economic importance of this market. This paper outlines an exploratory study conducted on international university students studying at an Australian university. A total of 407 valid responses from the sample were achieved. Factor analysis identified four main risk factors which were labelled ‘human-induced risk’, ‘social–psychological risk’, ‘financial risk’, and ‘health risk’. Student origins were found to influence risk perceptions. In particular, Asian students perceived higher levels of human-induced and social–psychological risks compared with students primarily from America and Europe. Travel experience and repeat visitation significantly reduced risk factors apart from health risks. Financial risks were higher for students planning to travel in Australia compared with Asia and America. The implications for destination marketing are considered, and future research avenues based on the results are outlined.

- by Ruiqi Deng
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- Tourism Studies, Tourism Management, Visitor studies, Risk Management

Animal-Visitor Interactions (AVIs) have become commonplace in zoological institutions and facilities globally. However, most AVI research focuses on the effects of visitors on the welfare of animals, with considerably less studies examining the visitor experience itself. Furthermore, robust evaluations of the efficacy of zoo education programs and engagements for increasing visitor awareness of conservation issues, and for fostering long-term proconservation behavior changes in them, are under researched. This paper reviews the current literature that pertains to the effects of zoo visitation and AVIs on visitor perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. We briefly note some of the known effects that zoo visitors have on zoo animals, and conversely explore the effects that factors such as enclosure design, animal visibility and behaviors, and AVIs can have on visitors' overall experience whilst attending the zoo. We suggest that future research needs to more closely examine the relationships and interactions between zoo visitors and zoo animals; why some zoo visitors maintain repeat visitation over others; what the differences in beliefs and attitudes may be between "zoo visitors" and "non-zoo visitors" (i.e., other general public); and to make a concerted effort to 2 understand: (1) what visitors are doing after they leave the zoo, and (2) whether visitors are adopting long-term pro-conservation behaviors into their daily lives. We further suggest that future research needs to start investigating indirect measures related to the visitor experience, such as: (a) individual conservation support outside of the zoo; (b) internet activity; (c) changes in sustainable purchasing practices related to knowledge gains; (d) financial investment in sustainable or ethical companies after knowledge gains; (e) and the longitudinal effects of zoo visits.

The purpose of this paper is to propose that a new management framework, applicable to all managed cultural destinations, would be beneficial to individual organizations as well as to the industry. The case study of an attraction in the UK proposes visitor flows as the most reliable common basis for such a framework. The paper also encourages attractions/destinations to measure and analyze visitor behavior and mobility in a standardized fashion.

- by David Ward-Perkins and +1
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- Visitor studies, Case Study, Visitor Flow, Attraction Management

Millions of children visit zoos every year with their parents or schools in order to learn about wildlife firsthand. Moreover, public conservation education is a basic requirement for membership in professional zoo associations. However, in recent years there has been increasing criticism of zoos from animal rights groups for failing to demonstrate their averred value for public understanding of conservation and related biological concepts such as animal adaptation to habitats. Indeed, no study to date has fully assessed scientific learning for the key zoo audience of children. The present study represents the largest (n=3018) and most methodologically robust investigation of the educational value of zoos for children aged 7-15 ever conducted worldwide. This research evaluates the relative educational impact of educator-guided and unguided zoo visits at ZSL London Zoo, both in terms of the development of new knowledge about conservation biology and changing attitudes towards wildlife conservation. Results show a strong statistically significant increase in learning about animals and habitats from pre- to post-zoo visit. Moreover, zoo visits supplemented by an educational presentation almost doubled the aggregate increase in scientific learning found for unguided zoo visits. Conversely, negative changes in children’s understanding of animals and their habitats were much more prevalent in unguided zoo visits. Overall, this study offers the strongest evidence to date of the potential educational value of visiting zoos for children and young people. However, it also identifies problematic patterns that can emerge if zoos’ educational provision is insufficient. Given that hundreds of millions of people visit zoos every year, rigorous assessment of their value as sites for public conservation education holds important implications for public knowledge and attitudes towards key concepts relating to conservation biology.

- by Eric Jensen
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- Technology, Environmental Education, Science Communication, Science Education

В последнее время вырос интерес исследователей к музейному посетителю и его поведению. Однако для понимания сегодняшней ситуации необходим ретроспективный культурологический анализ роли музея в структуре повседневности советского гражданина. Для ответа на данный вопрос авторы решили обратиться к нетрадиционному для музеологов источнику – советской карикатуре. Предметом исследования авторов является образ музея в сатире и массовом сознании. Особое внимание уделено таким сюжетам, как изображение музейного сообщества, музею как метафоре, культуртрегерской функции музея. На основе контент-анализа визуальных и текстовых материалов советской эпохи, а также визуально-компаративного исследования иконографических сюжетов в статье впервые прослеживается образ советского музея и музейного посетителя в массовом сознании. В большинстве случаев эмоциональный градус изображения отечественного музея и музейного посетителя в советской карикатуре – это не жесткая сатира, а относительно мягкий и идеологически выдержанный юмор, нацеленный на пропаганду успехов социалистического культурного строительства, при том, что музеи – не самый частый гость на страницах «Крокодила». Временная динамика музейной и околомузейной карикатуры почти не прослеживается, небольшой всплеск интереса к музейной теме можно отметить только в 1970-е гг. По всей видимости, он связан с развитием внутреннего туризма и новым требованиям к музеям как части туристической сферы.

- by Ivan Grinko and +1
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- Soviet History, Museum Studies, Visitor studies, Everyday Life Studies

Un aspecto crucial para hacer más competitivos los destinos turísticos es
conocer los niveles de satisfacción del turista que los visita. Este artículo,
mediante la aplicación del Análisis Cluster, pretende una aproximación a
la segmentación del turismo de crucero que arriba al Puerto de Progreso en
la península de Yucatán. Las conclusiones están orientadas a presentar la
demanda de turismo de cruceros en tres clusters bien diferenciados cuyos
niveles de satisfacción se relacionan con aspectos específicos del destino
Progreso.

- by Patricia Villeneuve and +1
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- Museum Studies, Visitor studies, Museum Education, Museums and Exhibition Design

Lighting design in Museums in Argentina is not particularly oriented to meet visitors' satisfaction. Lighting is aimed at meeting quantitative requirements for objects’ conservation and preservation. Visitors' visual comfort and quality of exhibitions are not properly considered to meet their satisfaction with the visit.
This study aims to analyze the relationship between measured illuminance levels in exhibitions, the subjective evaluation of lighting and overall satisfaction of visitors.
Visitors' subjective assessments of lighting, and oveall satisfaction were carried out in two museums in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina:
• Museo Casa Histórica de la Independencia (1st museum – high symbolic connotation; natural and artificial light)
• Museo de Arte Sacro de Tucumán (2nd museum – unfrequented; mostly artificial light)
Data collection was done through a survey (questionnaire), based on findings of relevant literature on museums, with four sections of information considered relevant for visitors' satisfaction and divided into two parts

- by Raul Ajmat and +1
- •
- Museum Studies, Visitor studies, Museums and Exhibition Design

The following article discusses the Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum (Tribal Museum) in Bhopal as a place where visitors call up their personal memories and reflect on social losses while critiquing contemporary culture. In this context the representation of the village and rural life in the museum functions as a catalyst for their personal and collective retrospection. Two groups of visitors and two distinct models of visitor behaviour become apparent from the interviews and visitor observations; they will be referred to as “experts” and “nostalgists” in the following. “Experts” are those visitors who have experienced the village themselves and who pass on their first-hand knowledge to their children or other co-visitors. “Nostalgists” are those visitors who construe the village as a theoretical place of longing, as the basis for lamenting the loss of an authentic India and as a starting point for developing a critique of contemporary culture. Most of these visitors have not lived in a village themselves. Further, the article will show that nostalgia and cultural critique are not only found among the older visitors. Even the young generation, generally depicted in literature as the avant-garde of consumer culture, often expresses an unease about the present and invokes the idea of a better or ideal past as counter-image. Interestingly enough, the vocabulary they use, and the ideas they refer to, have been in circulation ever since their usage by Gandhi, the most prominent of all Indian critics of modernity. The research presented in this article is part of larger a study of visitors, classifying them according to more than half a dozen different approaches to using the museum.

- by Dr. Ina Roß
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- Visitor studies, Postcolonial Studies, Museums, India
- by Stuart Frost
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- Museum Studies, Heritage Studies, Visitor studies, Interpretation

This is the European English language version of the ATLAS cultural tourism survey for 2020. The survey is currently being translated into other languages by project members. Instructions for use of the survey are available on the project website (www.tram-research.com/atlas). For further information, please contact Greg Richards (g.w.richards@uvt.nl).

- by greg richards and +1
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- Tourism Studies, Tourism Marketing, Tourism Management, Cultural Heritage

L’archeologo del XXI secolo non vive più di solo studio e scavo. Oggi la moderna ricerca impone di affiancare al lavoro in cantiere e ai libri in biblioteca modi sempre nuovi di indagare, comunicare e gestire l’antico. Bastano un po’ di fantasia, versatilità e intraprendenza per dare vita, da archeologo, alle attività più disparate. Come hanno fatto i 34 professionisti che si raccontano in Archeostorie: c’è chi cura un museo e chi gestisce un’area archeologica, chi narra il passato ai bambini e chi lo “fa vedere” ai ciechi, chi usa nel racconto le tecnologie e i linguaggi più diversi e persino i videogame; c’è poi chi ricostruisce l’antico in 3D e chi lo sperimenta dal vivo, chi organizza i dati di scavo e chi li rende disponibili per tutti; c’è chi scrive sui giornali e chi parla di archeologia alla radio o in tivù, chi realizza documentari e chi racconta l’archeologia sui social network; c’è ancora chi punta sul marketing e chi sul crowdfunding, chi fa dell’archeologia un’esperienza per tutti e chi difende le bellezze da furti e scempi. C’è anche chi studia e scava, e nel libro descrive la vita vera di studio e scavo al di là dei miti e dei sogni.
Il risultato è un manuale non convenzionale che offre spunti originali e concreti agli archeologi del futuro in cerca di reali possibilità di occupazione. Una sorta di bottega artigiana dove apprendere i segreti del mestiere, o meglio dei mestieri, che un’archeologia nuova, pragmatica e ancorata nel presente può ispirare.

- by Monduzzi Editoriale Cisalpino and +14
- •
- History, Ancient History, Historical Geography, Archaeology

The accuracy of the often-repeated principle of “right-turn bias” is examined by comparing primary-source findings with secondary-source reports. “Right-turn bias” refers to a consistent pattern of choosing the pathway on the right rather than one on the left. Under close examination, the concept of “right-turn bias” described in the secondary-source literature is at best misleading, and is likely to have negative implications for successful design of museum exhibitions and other public spaces. The right-turn principle fails to recognize that pedestrians respond to multiple factors and make intelligent decisions for pathway choice based on: (1) the destination of pedestrians’ movement; (2) the attractiveness of objects and landmarks along the way; (3) the relative costs (in terms of time and effort) for choosing one pathway versus another; (4) learning patterns such as the cultural norm of “walking on the right side of a pathway”; and (5) the influence of other people (e.g., following the group leader, avoiding on-coming crowds). Lateral hemisphere bias, if at all a factor in pathway choice, is weak compared with other mechanisms.

- by Steve Bitgood
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- Visitor studies, Environmental Design, Museums and Exhibition Design

There is an animated debate in popular media about whether or not
photography should be allowed in art museums. However, there is limited
research that examines how visitors themselves feel about visitor
photography and the reasons why they choose to take (or not take)
photographs in museums. This research, conducted at the Smithsonian
National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, uses semistructured,
in-depth interviews and photo elicitation with 40 adults to examine
visitors’ attitudes to using photography inside art museums and
their motivations for doing so. The research results suggest that
visitors with positive attitudes towards visitor photography see photographic
devices as tools that enhance certain aspects of the museum
experience, promote further education, and provide entry points
to exhibitions and a more interactive, personal experience. Those
with negative attitudes see photographic devices as mediating and
distracting lenses that have a detrimental effect on intimate experiences
with artworks. Many of the participants with negative attitudes
still use photographic devices because they believe that the risk of
diminishing art experiences in the museum isworth taking, considering
the potential uses of photography. The six main motivations for taking
photographs in museums are (a) to aid memory, (b) to share, (c) for
further research, (d) to inspire, (e) as building material for self-identity,
and (f ) as an art form in its own right.

- by Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert
- •
- Photography, Museum Studies, Cultural Heritage, Visitor studies

Visiting family and friends (VFF) tourism, also called visiting friends and relatives tourism, is the practice of traveling to familiar or unfamiliar places for the purpose of meeting people who are personally esteemed or valued. VFF is considered to be among the oldest manifestations of travel. VFF tourism involves notions of movement, dispersion, and distancing. By implication, therefore, such travels are undertaken with the explicit intent of maintaining and/or strengthening far-flung relationships. Even in a world where communications and technologies permeate almost all settings of contemporary life, journeys to places where family, friends, and relatives have relocated can serve to reforge these important social connections. Past tourism literature has long undervalued the social and economic contributions of VFF tourism. As a result, investigations of such contributions have been largely neglected. More recently, however, this concept has gained some academic interest as well as industry importance. The emerging discourse on VFF tourism, although formative in the way marketers promote their destinations, justifies the need for extensive and in-depth engagement.

- by Gregory Higginbotham
- •
- Tourism Studies, Tourism Marketing, Visitor studies, Tourism

¿Quiénes son los públicos del mna? Más allá de saber cuántos visitantes acuden al museo, de acuerdo con la clasificación administrativa de los mismos, ¿podríamos poner rostro a los más de dos millones de personas que cada año asisten allí? Identificar los públicos del museo es poner rostro a esos millones de personas y reconocer que en su visita tiene lugar una experiencia única e irrepetible y que, según la calidad de ésta, podremos o no lograr el cometido de engancharlos, convertirlos en público recurrente y despertar su interés por conocer más. Esto no es un hecho estático: a 50 años de la reubicación del museo en el bosque de Chapultepec, cabe
agradecer a sus millones de visitantes y tratar, en un esbozo preliminar, de caracterizarlos a lo largo del tiempo.

- by Leticia Pérez Castellanos
- •
- Visitor studies, Museologia, Museos

The influence of visitors on the welfare of captive animals, known as the visitor effect, may in some instances be stressful, adversely
affecting animal health. Although the survival of many felid species depends on captive breeding programmes, little is known about this
effect. A better understanding of the visitor effect is required to ensure the well-being of felids and the success of breeding programmes.
We sought to determine whether the presence of visitors affects behaviour patterns and space use in five feline species in two Spanish
zoos: Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), jaguar (Panthera onca), bobcat (Lynx rufus), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and Asiatic lion
(Panthera leo persica) and, if so, whether the effect on animal welfare is positive or negative. To our knowledge, no previous research
has addressed the visitor effect in these species, with the exception of the jaguar. Data on animal behaviour, enclosure use, and visitor
density were collected during the spring and summer of 2011 and 2012. Changes were observed for all studied species when the zoo
was open to the public: four species devoted less time to complex behaviour (ie play, walk) and spent more time resting; ocelots and
bobcats made more use of hidden spaces and less use of areas closer to visitors, while the jaguar tended to do the opposite. No correlation was found between visitor density and animal activity, indicating that animals are affected by the mere presence of visitors, regardless of their number. Our findings are in line with those reported by other authors, who have suggested that these behavioural changes
are linked to chronic stress. Visitor effect was classed as negative for the welfare of all studied species apart from the jaguar. We advocate
the need for future research into potential solutions to mitigate the adverse effect of visitors on felids.

- by Pilar Suárez and +1
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- Ethology, Visitor studies, Animal Behavior, Stress

How do a city and a nation deal with a legacy of perpetrating atrocity? How are contemporary identities negotiated and shaped in the face of concrete reminders of a past that most wish they did not have? Difficult Heritage focuses on the case of Nuremberg-a city whose name is indelibly linked with Nazism-to explore these questions and their implications. Using original archival, interview and ethnographic sources, it provides not only fascinating new material and perspectives, but also more general innovative theorizing of the relationship between heritage, identity and material culture. The book looks at how Nuremberg has dealt with its Nazi past post-1945. It focuses especially, but not exclusively, on the city's architectural heritage, in particular, the former Nazi party rally grounds, on which the Nuremberg rallies were staged. The book draws on original sources, such as city council debates and interviews, to chart a lively picture of debate, action and inaction in relation to this site and significant others, in Nuremberg and elsewhere. In doing so, Difficult Heritage seeks to highlight changes over time in the ways in which the Nazi past has been dealt with in Germany, and the underlying cultural assumptions, motivations and sources of friction involved. Whilst referencing wider debates and giving examples of what was happening elsewhere in Germany and beyond, Difficult Heritage provides a rich in-depth account of this most fascinating of cases. It also engages in comparative reflection on developments underway elsewhere in order to contextualize what was happening in Nuremberg and to show similarities to and differences from the ways in which other 'difficult heritages' have been dealt with elsewhere. By doing so, the author offers an informed perspective on ways of dealing with difficult heritage, today and in the future, discussing innovative museological, educational and artistic practice.

- by Sharon Macdonald
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- Cultural Geography, Tourism Studies, Tourism Management, Heritage Studies
- by Dietmar Kepplinger
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- Museum Studies, Visitor studies, Besucherforschung
- by arta gilang
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- Visitor studies
- by Gun Kuntara Adhiarta
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- Museum, Visitor studies, Merapi, Daya Tarik

Abstract
This chapter examines the performative and embodied nature of the museum visit and in doing so mounts a challenge to the dominance of the idea that the museum visit is, or should be, about learning. Rather, the argument advanced is that visitors use museums in a wide range of ways and that the learning paradigm restricts the ability of researchers and museum professionals to recognize this diversity. Understanding the visit as an embodied performance reveals the means by which visitors emotionally engage with museum exhibitions and thus identifies the ways in which visitors undertake their own ‘heritage making’ and the production and reinforcement of their own meanings and cultural and political values. Interviews with visitors to museums and other sites of heritage in England, Australia and the USA are used to illustrate and support the argument.

- by Laurajane Smith
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- Tourism Studies, Anthropology of Tourism, Art History, Museum learning