Focuses on the traveling exhibition from the Musee de Picardie in Amiens, France, called "From the Sun King to the Royal Twilight: Painting in Eighteenth Century France," that provides an overview of French paintings from the reign of Louis IV to the fall of the monarchy. (CMK)

An experience-based exhibit emphasizes the visitor's active involvement: visitors become involved in inquiry cycles in which visitors' continued interaction with the exhibit builds upon the feedback they have received from the results of their inquiries. Presents 10 broad guidelines to consider when designing engaging experience-based exhibits.…

Examines transformation in the nature of public spaces for children and the school's role in producing those spaces. Draws on two years of ethnographic field-work at an elementary school. Focuses on a field trip to an art museum and explores another type of trip. (CMK)

Professional development through the advanced planning of themed exhibitions provides art instructors in Howard County the impetus for many art problems. This art problem, centered on the art and writing contained in the storybooks of Holly Hobbie. In late summer, the art teaching staff of the Howard County Public School System gathered at the…

Electronic field tripping is a relatively new form of large-scale distance education that attempts to provide contextually rich learning materials embedded within a coherent educational content base. Using Dewey's (1943) framework for the natural learning impulses of children, we describe the potential pedagogical benefits afforded by electronic…

Art museums in the United States have undergone profound changes since the 1980s. Have the qualifications and professional preparation of art museum educators changed as well? This article focuses on these qualifications from five points of view: a) the changing context of art museums in transition from object-centered to visitor-centered…

This article explores the influence of prior knowledge on the setting of goals and use of content in museum website visits. Goal setting is a crucial process in organizing the activities of surfers in open environments, such as museum websites, where surfers faced ill-defined tasks. To this end, 12 graduate students were asked to surf through two…

Having stepped up to the educational challenge of their public service mission, many public art museums now employ more educators than curators, and attendance numbers continue to swell. Museum professionals have become more aware of the multiple dimensions that go into making a successful museum experience for their patrons. The increased rigor…

Little attention has been paid to community college library-museum connections. Using nine examples, this article describes a variety of community college museums in Florida and other states, explains the historical and philosophical connections between libraries and museums, and discusses recent developments that favor library-museum…

Advanced placement teachers around Chicago find their own intellectual stimulation reinvigorates their teaching and benefits their students. Through a consortium, these teachers group together to explore content-based topics using a rich variety of community resources, including a top library, university and museum resources. "This is my…

History teachers on the secondary level are often so boxed in by heavy schedules and standard curricula that they have little time or incentive to use outside resources. In the light of these concerns, the Education Department at the Hershey Museum initiated The Progressive Industry and Its Legacy project. This article describes the project, which…

This document reports request for a total of $271,246,000 for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for Fiscal Year 2008. Funds are designed to assist the Institute in expanding its leadership role in creating an informed and educated citizenry, and transmitting the values of American democracy. In recent years the Institute has…

This collection of essays explores various arts education-specific evaluation tools, as well as considers Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the inclusion of people with disabilities in the design of evaluation instruments and strategies. Prominent evaluators Donna M. Mertens, Robert Horowitz, Dennie Palmer Wolf, and Gail Burnaford are…

This bilingual directory (English and Spanish) describes Smithsonian museums and offices and focuses on the Hispanic, Latino, Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese facets of their collections, exhibits, research, public programs, fellowship and internship opportunities, publications, and services. The Smithsonian Institution is composed of 16…

This booklet evolved from research for the exhibition "Uncle Sam Speaks: Broadsides and Posters from the National Archives," which opened at the National Archives in February 1986. The booklet is presented chronologically, beginning with broadsides from the American Revolution and ending with posters of the 1980's. Accompanying text…