Contributed by Trey Whitted, Secondary Language Arts Education student at Anderson University (IN), intern at the Anderson Museum of Art, and AMM member, this blog article discusses the ways museums can center museum values in different forms of writing institution-wide.
A display case with written labels at The British Museum
Writing is essential for communicating information in any profession, and this is especially true for educational institutions like museums. With wide-ranging professional tasks, marketing and fundraising strategies, experiences, and audiences served, the nature and intention of the written word in museums varies greatly from institution to institution. It is important for each museum to consider the forms of writing they employ to communicate to audiences internally and externally, and to ensure that there is intentionality, consistency, and unity of messaging across their different forms of writing.
For instance, museums might write sponsorship or grant proposals to raise funds for a new exhibit, craft short blurbs to advertise on social media, or pitch an idea for a new educational program. The conventions of these types of writings are as diverse as the functions of museum professionals themselves.
Initially, it may appear as if these forms of writing are extremely different from each other. By analyzing the texts created in the museum field, some core commonalities emerge beneath these surface-level differences. These common threads across writing types represent values of museums—the consistent, intentional, and unified messages/language they employ—and these values are important to pay attention to across the sector. In this article, I share the results of a research project wherein I interviewed museum professionals from across the country about the deeper values represented by different types of museum writing, even if their purposes seem varied, in order to support more effective writing fieldwide.
Unity
Because there are so many genres of writing in the museum field, one of the most important aspects for museum writers to convey is unity. This means presenting written information in a way that is cohesive not only for a particular institution but for museology in general. For instance, an institution using a style guide produces content that follows the same rules of writing across multiple departments. “I have to ‘be’ the institution, no matter how my day is going,” says Lizabel Stella the senior social media and digital content manager at the Blanton Museum of Art. Writing in this way takes away emphasis from the individual author and helps the information being written to be marketable to a larger audience.
The trust readers put in museums as cultural institutions means that communication that comes from museums must be credible. This is particularly true in genres like marketing where a common brand has to be shared with the public. You wouldn’t expect to read a scholarly article in an Instagram caption. No matter the genre, audiences expect content to be edited to fit the conventions they come to the work anticipating—and they may, especially today, ask that museums cite their sources.
Ways to unify messaging and writing styles:
- Develop a style guide that describes the “voice” of the institution (e.g. humorous, serious, always linked to science, etc.) and provides instruction on the types of words used to describe institutional activities
- Develop a list of target audiences for each type of communication, and write with that audience in mind. Sometimes, this means doing a little research!
- Understand the purpose of your writing assignment and the conventions of the particular format or channel (e.g. social media post vs. grant proposal)
Accessibility
The emphasis on accessibility is another core tenant of museum work. Just as physical museum spaces are designed to serve a diverse array of guests, the writing that the public encounters should also be somewhat universal. This is complicated. As the director of the Smithsonian Associates, Fredie Adelman, told me “Audiences range in age from pre-K to post-retirement.” This means keeping multiple ages in mind while still tailoring writing to the age group for which the writing is intended. Using language that is easy to understand strengthens the connection between the author and the reader, and no group of people should be barred from knowledge as a result of the use of confusing or complex messaging.
Digital tools offer a wide range of options for using technology to make information accessible to a broader range of abilities. Succinctness in any type of museum writing is effective in conveying information in a manner that delivers information as efficiently as possible. The growth of technology also means that more people have access to written information, which is another reason that multiple audiences should be kept in mind.
Ways to make writing more accessible:
- Use alt-text and other written descriptions for any visual elements you include in your writing. This makes elements like pictures or videos more easily understandable for readers who may have visual impairments.
- Create captions for videos or audio. This gives more means for all members of your audience to access information.
- Select and create age-appropriate texts for your intended audience. This may look like choosing vocabulary that could be understood by a particular age group or presenting information in a way that would be most relatable to your intended audience.
- Make your writing as succinct as possible. This gets information out effectively. A practical example of this might be hitting a word count to make information appropriate to a particular format (social media post, article, etc.)
Humanity
One element of museum writing that can sometimes be overlooked is the importance of centering human stories—our humanity and that of our staff, leadership, and communities represented or served through programs and exhibits. This could look like giving proper context to collection pieces. Being human-focused is an important aspect of museum work. Even when visitors are looking at artifacts from hundreds of years ago, they should still be reminded of the humanity behind the object and how it can connect to their contemporary lives.
Fostering human connections for and between diverse groups of people is one of the most powerful functions of cultural institutions. This is the ideal that makes museum writers like John Epp, the curator of the USS Slater, have the “number one goal of bringing a human element” into everything they write. Overall, centering human stories in writings that convey information about objects or experiences is a good stewardship practice and can strengthen connections between museums and their communities.
Ways to connect to the humanity of museum work:
- Write donor letters to show appreciation to your financial backers. These could include photos or other evidence of how their support helps achieve the mission of the institution.
- Tell the story of the people you’re writing about in their own words. This makes the human stories you’re telling more authentic to real lived experiences. Interviews are a great way to achieve this.
- Research all the historic and contemporary stories you write about. If you’re writing about another culture, you could have someone from that group review your writing and make sure it accurately conveys their reality.
Conclusion
As I learned from the interviews conducted during my project, the missions of museums and their writing styles are inextricably linked. No matter which of the many genres under the banner “museum writing,” it is important that the work that museum professionals produce falls in line with these deeper ideals. They are some of the most important aspects of the field itself. Thinking through these deeper connections will make museum writing more effective and help achieve the goal of communicating information in ways that are far-reaching and value-driven.
Resources
Why Accessible Technology Is Important
Towards a More Human-Centered Museum: Part 1, Rethinking Hierarchies
National Endowment for the Arts: Accessibility: Publications, Checklists, & Resources