MEANINGFUL INTERPRETATION How To Connect Hearts And Minds To Places, Objects, And Other Resources

Make it yours. Make it personal. The questions and exercises succeed only if you invest yourself. Answer thoughtfully, honestly, and in terms of your experiences and the place or resources you interpret. You are a communicator; wrestle with and find the words to say what you think and feel. Remember: there are no wrong answers. Ask others about their ideas. Listen to their answers and expand yours to accommodate theirs.

Use the whole book or any of its parts. The text, questions, and exercises interact with the video (Note: omitted from the online edition) and written versions of An Interpretive Dialogue. Refer to both as each provides insight into the interpretive process. The book directs you to other references that address the most foundational understandings and the best practices developed and honed by generations of interpreters.

If you're a supervisor or coach, you might use the whole book with an employee over the course of a season or more. This book is also designed to focus on a particular aspect of the craft. An instructor can select elements and design courses that address the needs of his or her site and participants. Or, for example, if you're on your own and you fear your programs are getting preachy, you might consider working with The Visitor is Sovereign section.

This book is pertinent to all interpreters — brand new, experienced, volunteer, or paid professional. If you haven't interpreted before or just arrived onsite, you might complete an exercise or answer a question in terms of someone else's interpretive product. The subjects in this book are important to your success. Your first impressions and honest answers provide important guidance for developing programs relevant to audiences who are not experts either.

If you've thought about this material before, realize that your understandings, emphasis, and skills will change with experience and time. All careers will benefit by reconsidering these subjects. Compare your thoughts when you started the book to your thoughts when you've finished it. And use this book in the future to measure how your perspectives on interpretation evolve.

Finally, the philosophy presented here is a tool that can help, but it must fit your hand. Give it an honest chance. If it doesn't work for you, that's okay. The tool is not as important as the quality of your work. If you reject these theories, you need insure your interpretation delivers the highest possible standard — your resource deserves no less.