Personalization of the Museum Visit

<p><em>The Personalization of the Museum Visit</em> examines a fundamental shift in institutional behavior in museums located in the United States and the United Kingdom. Contending that art museums have moved toward a new paradigm of public engagement it posits that modern museum visitors are treated as self-directed clients with the agency to make meaning for themselves. The book then considers how this change has come about examining factors such as the onset of a new museology an experience economy and a marketing revolution.</p><p></p><p>Drawing on extensive research undertaken at Britain’s Tate Modern the book examines a range of issues including visitor engagement curatorial practice and museum management. A visit experience that is customizable to the individual visitor in which curators and marketers work together with visitor-clients to create an experience of personalized meaning is Rodney argues rising in prevalence in the art museum field but it is also being stymied by certain structural impediments. This book examines such obstacles including institutional division of labor long-standing conceptions or misconceptions of the museum’s mission and the orientation of museums toward a certain conceptual model of their visitors. </p><p></p><p>The Personalization of the Museum Visit is essential reading for scholars and students engaging with issues of visitor engagement curatorial practice and museum management. With a particular focus on the role of business interests and public policy the book should also be of interest to those undertaking research in fields outside of museum and visitor studies.</p>