Making history fun has appeared to be as a very slippery slope for museums and other organizations to catch themselves on. Our one reading and recent presentation on a Disney park possibly breaking the immersive environment and damaging the history they would tell. Another issue was our discussion earlier in the year that took place after our visit to Carillon Park. Apparently there were some rather strong feelings about museums and other historic sites offering the viewers a more entertainment based experience over a solid factual one.
Carillon Park was telling history as it pertained it their mission and community but they were also presenting themselves as a park for recreation and fun over just scholarly learning. In my paper I mentioned that one of the main standards that museums and public history organizations need to meet is their credibility. Are they telling correct information, the right information, are they covering up facts, and are they personally skilled to research and explain these topics?
In my opinion as long as a site it still focused on educating its community and visitors with a wealth of information, then I see no reason why they could not find some way to themselves more public recognition. They gear the type of information they want to present around the type of audience and atmosphere that want their visitors to experience as they throw special events for their visitors to take part in. Its not that they are trying to hide information, I imagine you can still come to them with requests about certain topics that are not shown very often and they could professionally help you in your research. They are looking to find a nice medium that a museum or park can have a fun atmosphere for recreation and enjoyment with out just catering to the people that find the pure enjoyment of reading or seeing history.
No comments:
Post a Comment