UQ Museum Studies Field School Blog 2017

A thought crossed my mind following the round table discussion on the topic of ‘orientation and wayfinding’ at the Museum of Royal Antiques in Hue.

          With the citadel, royal tombs, imperial enclosure and the antiquities museum all in a large vicinity, visitors are spoiled with choice at this UNESCO heritage site. Though Lonely Planet, local hotels, tour companies and word of mouth may provide a good picture of how extensive the Hue complex is, a possible idea to enhance mobility around this cultural complex is to ‘bundle’ the experiences available to visitors in the precinct. For example, a visual illustration outlining visitation options (tombs + museum or citadel + museum) and time frames could assist visitors as they make the most of their experience. A wayfinding map catering to themes or time frames to the visit could be available at each entrance of the main sites for consistency.

The ‘bundling’ could be like the ones Graeme noted in his discussion on the topic of ‘informal learning in museums’ where trails are created. This could allow visitors free choice to how they would like to spend their time on site.

Using this technique to market curriculum subjects in my current role proved to be a success last year. With declining enrollments in the Humanities and languages, myself and other department heads in the faculty ‘bundled’ our subjects to showcase relevance in tertiary study and future job prospects. For example, we bundled “Modern History + Chinese” or “Ancient History + Economics” to market the faculty subjects to students and parents. The success was an increase in enrolments in History and Chinese. By ‘bundling’ these links, the department heads and I could show the interconnected nature of curriculum content and relevance to their future study prospects.

Overall, a visitor to Hue Citadel may feel more in control roaming the vast cultural space and gain a sense of accomplishment at the end of the visit. Therefore, a positive museum experience and word of mouth feedback that could encourage future visitors.

That’s my two cents worth! Thanks for reading J