Hands-On Access to Text-Based Objects for Visitors in Museums, Archives, and Librarie

Text-based objects such as books, letters, manuscripts, and other documents of historical significance are housed in museums, libraries, and archives. These artifacts carry powerful narratives about people and events of the past but, when placed within an exhibition context, they present a challenge to professionals wishing to engage the general public with meaningful interpretive tools that extend beyond traditional text labels. One way of addressing this issue is to provide supplementary programming that allows the public to handle select objects that are representative of the collection. Differing approaches towards visitor access and object preservation guide an institution's decision of whether or not to offer such an experience to its visitors.;The research for this thesis consists of a survey of professionals in museums, libraries, and archives designed to gauge both departmental and institutional attitudes towards granting the general public manual access to objects in their collections. An analysis of the gathered responses identifies emergent trends among institutions and professionals: libraries and archives are more likely than museums to allow the public to handle objects and the education and public programming community is least likely to support this kind of access. Additionally, the research includes an in-depth case study of the Hands-On Tour offered by the Rosenbach Museum and Library of Philadelphia. Comprised of an interview with the one of the program's co-creators and a survey of visitors who have participated in the tour, this portion of the study examines both the process and rationale for the program's implementation and the motivations and experiences of its participants. Visitors are motivated by a range of expectations including positive social engagement, cognitive insight, increased access, and a sense of connection to the past. As reported by survey participants, these expectations were not met in some categories while exceeded in others.