4. What will you write?
Text and writing can be useful tools for sharing parts of a story and shaping what your visitor might learn and feel. (You don’t have to use writing in an exhibit, of course, but a lot of the time it’s handy.)
- Why do you think museums use labels or text panels?
- What jobs can they do?
- What might a label help your visitor learn or feel?
Inspiration
Read these labels from Museums Victoria exhibitions, and choose one to discuss.
Some of them are labels for objects, and some of them are about a whole section of an exhibition.
- What do you think this label is about?
- How did you feel when you read it?
- What did you find out?
- What other information would you like to know?
Neck ornament, 1919, maker not recorded
St Matthias Islands, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea
This necklace is made from the leg segments of the jewel beetle (Cyphogastra species).
Object label from the Te Pasifika exhibition at Melbourne Museum
Beam me up, Scotty
Teleportation, allowing people to transport instantly to school, overseas or even between planets, is an appealing idea. But breaking down the millions of atoms that make a person then transmitting them like a radio wave to a new location for re-assembly is science fiction.
Text panel from the Think Ahead exhibition at Scienceworks
British Sopwith F.1 Camel aeroplane model, 1918
Made in France from bits of crashed plane while Harold waited to come home after the war.
Harold Peachey Wood, Melbourne
Wood, metal. 1:12
Object label from the Mini Mega Model Museum exhibition at Melbourne Museum
Gut villi
Run your hand through the tiny finger-like villi. These line your small intestine and help with nutrient absorption by increasing the surface area.
New research shows the small intestine’s surface is not the size of a tennis court as often quoted, but 30–40 square metres…so more like 10 ping pong tables.
Interactive label from the Gut Feelings exhibition at Melbourne Museum
Each year, the American Association of Museums holds a competition for labels and text panels in museums. They award writing that is ‘clear, concise and captivating.’
Advice
Many people have shared fantastic advice about writing labels and text panels.
Tips from Beverly Serrell, who studied how visitors learn and behave in museums:
- Start with information directly related to what visitors can see, feel, do, smell or experience from where they are standing.
- Vary the length of the sentences.
- Use short paragraphs and small chunks, not large blocks of information.
Source: Serrell, B. (1996). Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.
Advice from the Australian Museum in Sydney:
- Messages need to be clear and concise since visitors spend little time in exhibitions.
- Visitors will read text yet don’t want to be overwhelmed by it: well written text that is clear, simple, interesting and easy to read will be read, enjoyed and retained by most visitors.
- Long text panels and labels packed with information will be skipped by a majority of visitors, except for those with a deep interest in the subject.
Source: https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/teachers/learning/writing-text-and-labels/
What else do you think is important when writing text for exhibitions?
Your label
Plan and write at least one label for your exhibit. Check the inspiration and advice above if you get stuck.
- This label will be about...
- When my visitor reads this label, they will find out...
- It will help my visitor feel...
- Tone (funny, serious, uplifting, poetic, sad, etc)
- Draft 1 (first of many)
Print or carefully write out your final draft to make a text panel, and put it with the rest of your collection, ready for the next step.
Tip: don’t be afraid of drafts!
Write as many drafts as you like until you’re happy with your label. Labels are usually rewritten a few times before they’re ready. Look at how this label from Mini Mega Model Museum developed:
About this label
A bonus label near the ‘Ozone’ paddle steamer model
Job of this label
To point out that this is only half a model and get people to notice the mirror at the back; to confirm that this trick was space-saving as well as cost-effective.
Draft 1
Cost-efficient, space-saving and lets you check out your smug mug: a multipurpose model mirror. (Needs redrafting: too long, not clear.)
Draft 2
Note crafty, cost-efficient, time-and-space-saving mirror. (Needs redrafting: ‘note’ is confusing.)
Draft 3 (final)
Notice the crafty, cost-cutting, time-and-space-saving mirror. (Finished!)