<i>Understanding Visitor Comments: The Case of</i> Flight Time Barbie

Abstract

ABSTRACT Many museums use comment cards, visitor books, and bulletin boards to capture the reactions of visitors. Whether they are collected, counted, skimmed, read, or simply filed, the utility of these documents is rarely questioned. This paper suggests some pros and cons of comment systems and presents an analysis of the comments on an exhibition, Flight Time Barbie , at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC. The responses to this exhibition included judgments about the subject matter of the exhibition, opinions about its presentation, and remarks regarding its appropriateness to the museum. The paper concludes by suggesting a practical approach to the analysis of visitor comments.