IMI hosts visitor from National Parks of Chile
at Harpers Ferry Center.
IMI coordinates interpretive planning trip to Glacier
National Park.
Larry Bowers and Tony Sciantarelli help staff
Harpers Ferry Center booth at NAI trade show. |
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General Media Development
- Effectiveness
of Nonpersonal Media Used in Interpretation & Informal Education
(59 pages - 5.4MB - PDF) – An annotated bibliography of studies relating to the effectiveness
of nonpersonal interpretive media. Includes summaries of more
than 300 articles. Interpreters, planners, designers, and others
can learn from existing research, and better choose the most effective
interpretive media to accomplish needed functions. An Executive
Summary identifies some of the major lessons learned from the
studies. The bibliography was produced by Dr. Marcella Wells and
Lisa Smith of Colorado State University. The project was initiated
and coordinated by the Harpers Ferry Center social science program,
through the Cooperative Education Study Unit (CESU) program.
- Interpretive Media Selection
– Selecting interpretive media solutions is as much art
as science. To reach your audience you may use wayside exhibits,
publications, audiovisual programs, museum exhibits, and personal
services. There is rarely only one way to achieve a goal, and
each situation has its own particular mix of factors to consider.
Learn how to determine which media are best suited to which tasks.
- Keys
to Successful Media Projects (1 page - PDF)
– An outline of important factors for park managers and
project staff to consider regarding project initiation, as well
as the planning, design, and production of media projects.
- Media Design Standards (2 pages - PDF) – A draft checklist for evaluating the effectiveness of interpretive media. Interpretive design should provoke revelation about a place, idea, or object. These are questions to ask yourself as you evaluate your media project in terms of content, organization, appearance, and interpretive techniques.
- Media
Development Process (1 page - PDF)
– Also called the "Media Wheel." An outline of the general phases of interpretive media
development that apply to National Park Service projects produced
through Harpers Ferry Center, contractors, or other sources. [Flash version] [Text version]
- Media
Development Process (1 page - PDF)
– (En espanõl). Same as above.
- Media Evaluation & Visitor Research – A primer on the value of evaluation as an integrated part of the exhibit planning and design process. Includes evaluation reports and sources for more information.
- HFC Editorial Style Guide (21 pages - PDF)
– The purpose of Harpers Ferry Center’s Editorial
Style Guide is to create a standard for writing and editing in
all NPS interpretive media and to define policy regarding recurring
questions about grammar and editorial style. Questions commonly
encountered are addressed here, with emphasis on terms and phrases
specific to national parks.
- Spanish Style Guide (February 2008 - 29 pages - PDF)
–Guidelines to help park rangers, interpreters, editors, and translators working on
Spanish language versions of National Park Service interpretive media.
- Visitor
Use & Evaluation of Interpretive Media (115 pages - 3.2MB
- PDF)
– This report was commissioned by Harpers Ferry Center and
prepared by the Social Science Program and the Visitor Services
Project (VSP). The report is an analysis of data from 23 VSP studies
conducted in 1997, 1998, and 1999, looking specifically at visitor
use of various types of interpretive media and the importance
and quality of those media used. Analysis of visitor use and evaluation
of ranger-guided programs is included for comparison.
Media Content
- The
Meaning of Civil War and Reconstruction (11 pages - PDF)
– A review of a March 2003 seminar on the Civil War given
by Dr. James Horton and Dr. David Blight. A good synopsis of recent
thinking on the meaning of the Civil War. Review by former HFC
Exhibit Planner Ben Miller.
- Wilderness
(2 pages - PDF)
– A fact sheet defining designated Wilderness, and outlining
facts and statistics related to the National Wilderness Preservation
System, and Wilderness in National Parks. A useful tool for interpretive
media planners, authored by Wilderness Specialist Laura Cheek,
Shenandoah National Park.
Museum Exhibits
- Exhibit Development Process (1 page - PDF)
– An overview of the exhibit development process, including pre-design, schematic design, design development, production documents, and production support. Written by HFC Exhibit Designer Don Branch.
- Exhibit Development
Worksheet – An outline of questions to ask yourself
in preparing for the development of an exhibit project in collaboration
with Harpers Ferry Center media specialists or contractors. This
information should be used as a starting point for project definition,
discussion, and decision making. Written by Becky Lacome, NPS
Interpretive Development Program.
- Exhibit
Production Process – A one-page outline of the phases
of museum exhibit production, including preprodctuion and postproduction
tasks. Written by HFC Exhibit Producer Anita Smith.
- Strategies for
Developing Exhibit Projects – Describes the range of
options regarding exhibit project teams, potential resources,
costs, schedules, and development processes.
- Criteria for Selecting
Exhibit Topics and Themes – A checklist for project
teams to consider before generating specific exhibit design solutions.
- Criteria for Selecting
Exhibit Concepts – A list of factors to consider when
appraising preliminary exhibit design solutions.
- Exhibit Requirements
and Disciplines – A list of specialized knowledge and
skills needed by those involved in exhibit development, and those
requirements based on law, policy, or professional practice. This
is a report generated by a database file which is continually
evolving as new requirements and disciplines are identified.
Technical Information
Wayside Exhibits
- Wayside Exhibit
Evaluation Checklist – This listing may be of assistance
in identifying the strong and weak points of installed wayside
exhibits.
- Wayside Exhibit
Planning – A concise overview of wayside exhibit theory,
with advice on planning principles, and a description of the planning
process. Written by former HFC Wayside Exhibit Planner Richard
Hoffman.
- Wayside Exhibit Map Standards (14 pages - PDF) – A collection of guidelines established to create consistency with official National Park Service publication maps.
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PDF DOCUMENTS:
Color Management for HFC Designers & Cartographers »
Effectiveness
of Nonpersonal Media »
Exhibit Development Process »
Keys
to Successful Media Projects »
Meaning
of Civil War & Reconstruction »
Media
Design Standards »
Media
Development Process »
HFC Editorial Style Guide »
Spanish Style Guide »
Standards for Digital Image Files »
Visitor
Use & Evaluation of Interpretive Media »
Wilderness »
Help With PDF »
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