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The Participatory Museum by Nina Simon Published by Museum 20 No. oj pages: 352 Book size: 9'x 6'x 3/4 I2" ? 10' ? 1-1/4 m Santa Cruz, California ISBN: 13: 978-0-615-34650-2
Despite its title, 'The Participatory Museum', the central goal of the book is to rescue the museum institution from the increasing social apathy and shrinking visitor-base that it faces in the 21st century. By presenting a number of case studies of museums that have deployed innovative design and exhibit strategies, the book attempts to restore the museum's primacy in the shifting landscape of learning and dialogue. The book promises that participatory models can help museums become town squares for conversations and attract newer audiences.
Across much of the Western world, museums are struggling to compete for younger and newer audiences who are increasingly drawn to other sources of entertainment, education, community -networks. Throughout die 1990s and the decade after, museum literature was filled with envious comparisons of visitor-accessibility models displayed in theme-parks and malls. Today, the new threat is the opportunities for entertainment, sharing, learning, kinship that the Web offers. The author Nina Simon, says that people have turned to the Web to share music, artwork, stories and comment on politics...