Guides
Part of Why do two years of argument sit behind every industrial interpretation panel?
Can a strong site tour really name what it deliberately leaves out?
Ask what the tour covers and what it does not. A site that can name the themes it leaves out has thought about interpretation; one that cannot has not.
What to take away
- Ask which themes the tour covers. The answer separates a site with a plan from one with a script.
- Ask what accommodations exist for hearing, vision and language. Federally funded sites usually have more than they advertise.
- Free programs are frequently the best ones, because they are grant-funded rather than commercial.
- Confirm what is running. Interpretation without a working machine is a talk in a shed.
Booking an interpreted industrial site is not like booking an attraction. What you are buying is somebody's explanation, and the quality of that explanation varies more than any other part of the visit.
These are the questions that reveal it in advance.
Ask what the tour is about
Not what you will see. What it is about.
Interpretive plan vs route
Site with plan
- Answers with
- themes
- Themes named
- process, workforce, technology
- Can name gaps
- yes, and why
- Most telling question
- what is left out
Site without plan
- Answers with
- a route
- Themes named
- none
- Can name gaps
- no
- Most telling question
- what will we see
A site with a proper interpretive plan answers in themes: the process, the workforce, the technology, the closure, the environment. A site without one answers with a route.
Then ask what the tour does not cover. Sites that have thought about interpretation can tell you immediately, and will usually explain why. That is the single most informative question on this list.
Ask about communication access
Guided interpretation is delivered by voice, frequently over machinery noise, and the accommodations available are broader than most listings suggest.
Communication access to request
- Assistive listening devices
- Captioned films
- Written scripts
- Large-print materials
- Sign language interpreter with notice
- Ask earlyinterpreters need weeks
The Department of Justice's guidance on effective communication sets out what is expected of covered entities in providing aids and services so that people with hearing, vision or speech disabilities can access what is being communicated. In practice that means it is entirely reasonable to ask a site about assistive listening, captioned films, written scripts, large-print materials or a sign language interpreter with notice.
Ask early. Interpreters in particular need booking weeks ahead.
Ask what is running
Interpretation at an industrial site depends on the machinery. A guided tour past static equipment is a different experience from the same tour with the engine turning.
Confirm what will be operating on your date, at what times, and whether the tour is scheduled around it.
Ask about the free programs
Many of the best interpretive programs at American sites are grant-funded and free, which is counterintuitive if you assume price tracks quality.
The National Endowment for the Humanities' grant programs fund exhibitions, films, public programs and interpretive planning at museums and historic sites across the country, which is why a small site can occasionally offer something better resourced than its admission price suggests. A site that runs its own training program for new hires often gives the strongest interpretation of all.
Ask whether any special program, exhibition or event is running during your visit, and whether it needs separate booking.
The rest of the list
- How long, and how much of it is walking?
- Is the guide a member of staff, a volunteer or a contractor?
- Can we ask questions during, or is there a slot at the end?
- What is the group size?
- Is photography allowed?
- Is any part of the site closed?
- What happens in bad weather, and how much of the route is outdoors?
For groups and schools
Ask what the site offers for groups specifically, since most have material they do not advertise to individuals. Ask also about pre-visit resources, which are frequently good and almost never mentioned.
How the interpretation you are booking was made is set out in how industrial site interpretation works, and what the museums themselves ask you to plan around covers the demonstration schedules in more detail.
