Museum Studies Commons^™

A Study Of Printed Family Guides And Their Relationship To The Family Museum Experience, Matana Ettenheim

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis analyzes the role of family guides in the family museum experience. Family guides are generally handheld pamphlets produced by the museum with the intention of supporting the family experience in the galleries. This study starts by sharing the results of my undergraduate work. After, I describe the preliminary process of contributing to a family guide at American Folk Art Museum. Lastly, I share my current research, in which I interviewed twelve families, asking them to speak to their museum experiences and compare and contrast four family guides. From these interviews, I am able to evaluate the family guide …