Share Spotlight: Accessibility to Inclusion: The Next Step

This week's Share Spotlight comes from Museum Matters, the official blog of my Intro to Museums class:

Accessibility to Inclusion: The Next Step

This week's topic in my Intro to Museum Studies class was inclusion: how do we make sure everyone can enjoy our museum? 

It's an important question.

Inclusion can mean a lot of different things because it can refer to a number of different groups. If you want to include an ethnic group, you'll do different things than if you want to include a group of people who are sight-impaired.

But whatever you do, it's important that it's sustainable. A special exhibit smacks of tokenism. While it may draw visitors in once, is it really likely to keep them coming back?

Do you have any suggestions? What programs or infrastructure do different groups need to feel comfortable in a museum? What have other fields done to promote inclusion?

Share Spotlight: Surprised in Rome: Bravo Palazzo Massimo!

I've really gotten interested in blogs recently and currently follow 17 blogs of various types, from fashion and lifestyle to Catholic to comics to museums to Spanish language. I've got some wide interests. :) But I thought that it would be neat if I picked a post each week to highlight. I'll start with a link to the blog post, then tell you what I think of it.


 This week's share spotlight comes from The Uncataloged Museum.

Surprised in Rome: Bravo Palazzo Massimo!

I love museums (obviously, I'm in a Museum Studies Program) and I love to travel, but the two don't always come together as often as I'd like. This post was a vicarious way for me to travel to Italy, but was also a bit more than that.

As a budding museum professional, how a museum is presented to the public is incredibly important. As museums have shifted to an educational focus, the public becomes the primary audience, and if they aren't getting anything out of the museum, the museum isn't doing its job.

Imagine my surprise to read that Italy, the Mecca for art museum lovers, was so poorly interpreted! But Linda Norris, the author of The Uncataloged Museum blog, has found a gem. Palazzo Massimo sounds like a wonderful visit, whether you are a museum professional or not.

What do you think? If you've been abroad, how do foreign museums differ from American museums in interpretation? What about museums in the US? What museum have you been to that struck you as a gem?