Visitor participation is a hot topic in the contemporary world of museums, art galleries, science centers, libraries and cultural organizations. How can your institution do it and do it well?

Nina Simon is an independent experience designer with expertise in participatory design, gaming, and social technology. She is the principal of Museum 2.0, a design firm that works with museums, libraries, and cultural institutions worldwide to create dynamic, audience-driven exhibitions and educational programs. Simon is also an adjunct professor of social technology in the University of Washington Museology program, and authors the influential Museum 2.0 blog, which also appears as a column in Museum magazine. She is a member of the board of the National Association of Museum Exhibitions in the US.

Simon’s new book, The Participatory Museum, is a practical guide to working with community members and visitors to make cultural institutions more dynamic, relevant, essential places. Simon weaves together innovative design techniques and case studies to make a powerful case for participatory practice.
To whet your appetite, here is what Elaine Heumann Gurian, leading international museum consultant and author of Civilizing the Museum has said about The Participatory Museum:

Nina Simon’s new book is essential for museum directors interested in experimenting with audience participation on the one hand and cautious about upending the tradition museum model on the other. The book is well written, interesting, well researched, and useful.  It will encourage and support those who wish to begin.  Simon dissects the process of participatory change, showing how to make choices that will augment, without overturning, the museum’s current programs or mission.  In concentrating on the practical, this book makes implementation possible in most museums.  More importantly, in describing the philosophy and rationale behind participatory activity, it makes clear that action does not always require new technology or machinery.  Museums need to change, are changing, and will change further in the future.  This book is a helpful and thoughtful road map for speeding such transformation.

Read the book online!

For more information see The Participatory Museum and Nina Simon’s blog