According to Megan Dennis, the curator at Gressenhall, around 70% of visitors come with primary school-aged children, which makes it important to use simple and concise text on panels, and where possible combine it with visual cues.
“The text on the panels is very simple but not simplified,” says Dennis. “We try and use simple language, but we don’t simplify the concepts.”
Gressenhall uses what Dennis describes as a layered approach to text to introduce different themes related to a topic and cater to different levels of interest. Some of the wall panels in the new workhouse galleries built earlier this year often break text on a given topic into three themes.
For instance the text panel on ‘casual’ inmates, who moved between workhouses, explains who they were, and how they were served by workhouses in the first section, before explaining that they were considered to be bad influence and separated from the other inmates in the second. Meanwhile, the final section highlights that workhouses had a duty of care to look after all inmates regardless of where they came from and how they chose to live.
Sometimes secondary layers of text are accessed in an exhibition guide or on a touchscreen – both effective ways of catering to the needs of so-called “heritage appreciators” who have an awareness of workhouse history and are looking for “something beyond the general introduction”, says Dennis.
“We try and provide additional text and additional information in that layered way so that people can delve to the level that they are happy with and that they have time for,” says Dennis.
“Hopefully what this does is give the key concepts to those whizzing around with a three-year-old who has no attention span but also provide accessible information for people who want to spend hours reading all the text in every gallery.”
Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse is also launching a tablet tool, which provides additional information and content relating to the site’s archive, as well as activities and games for younger audiences. A Google-map style function features pins that: provide information on the collections and archives; point out historical features of the building; and offer content designed to get visitors to imagine what it would have been like to be an inmate and be stripped of all your personal possessions.
Generating text for the in-house tablets required a different approach, says Dennis. For instance the text was designed to engage groups and encourage people to start talking about the issues that the content raises instead of just reading about it.
“The whole point of a text in the tablet is that it is not just about reading it to yourself, it is about reading it to your children”, says Dennis.
The heritage site has also spent the last three years working with descendants of workhouse inmates to reveal new stories about the people who lived and worked in the Norfolk workhouse. A volunteer was appointed to track down descendants and build up a bank of personal stories. An interpretation consultant used the material and research to write the first draft of text for the panels, which was then rewritten and edited by Dennis and Gressenhall’s learning manager.
Many of the stories touched on emotional and sensitive topics – the challenges faced by single mothers and instances of suicide – and therefore a careful approach had to be taken.
“There were stories that we pulled because descendants were not happy about us telling them. Openness, honesty and clarity about telling stories was really important but also an awareness that there are some stories that families might not want told and that is ok as well,” explains Dennis.
The biggest challenge, however, was to create the accompanying panels of text with contemporary relevancy. This was because any references to existing benefits and welfare measures applicable in the UK would quickly date, and the institution had to be careful not to be overtly political because it comes under the jurisdiction of the local authority. The team got around these challenges by using lots of questions and material that prompted people to think about what they would do if they were experiencing poverty.
“It is not about telling people to go and give some food to the foodbank, it is about getting them to think about what they would do if they were in that situation,” says Dennis.
“It is about asking questions, but not in a condescending way, or not in a way that dates. We don’t know what welfare will look like in ten years’ time.”
Megan Dennis, the curator at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, will be talking about her approach to museum text at the Museums Association’s one-day seminar: What’s the Story? Creating Text that Connects with Audiences, which takes place on 24 January at MShed in Bristol.