Interpreting Heritage: A Guide to Planning and Practice (Routledge Guides to Practice in Museums, Galleries and Heritage)

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Heritage interpretation may be performed at dedicated interpretation centres or at museums, historic sites, parks, art galleries, nature centres, zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, nature reserves and a host of other heritage sites. Staff might wear a lapel badge of a national flag to indicate they can speak a language other than English. The overarching theme can be divided into a small number of sub-themes, but each should support and focus on the big idea. With the needs of audiences firmly at the centre of his model, Slack demonstrates that interpretation can be a powerful tool for connection and for change. Lectures may consist of pre-recorded videos and/or live presentations from tutors, and integrate break-out discussions, study exercises and other learning activities as appropriate to the material covered from week to week.

The following guidelines provide an overview of when and how interpretation planning should fit into the project development stages for large projects.Interpretation, whether it be for heritage sites, sacred places, natural environments or visitor destinations should make experiences personal, provoke a response that resonates, and inspires people to respect and understand the idea that diversity and multiple perspectives are what make these places special and worth preserving and protecting. It is great for students and folks new to interpretation and also those of us who have been at this for decades but need some new ideas, a bit of structure or a refresher. For those of us working in interpretation, this is part of the joy of the work we do – that we can choose to work how we like, shifting some of our practices and processes from project to project, depending on what’s necessary.

From 1967-1970, Tilden personally trained the NPS interpretive workforce as a center instructor, honing and expanding his ideas and impact among fellow interpreters. And it is to Mills and Muir that we can turn when seeking a definition of interpretation as the basics are, I believe, established there. Ask for recommendations from local heritage attractions and appoint consultants with an established track record and whose ideas you like. Steel Stories brought together generations of people across Teesside, from those sharing first-hand stories to apprentices creating exhibition centrepieces. In a time of change, the possibilities of what interpretation can offer us as a sector are growing all the time.Drawing upon the author's professional experiences of working within, and for, the heritage sector, Interpreting Heritage provides advice and suggestions that will be essential for practitioners working in museums, art galleries, libraries, archives, outdoor sites, science centres, castles, stately homes and other heritage venues around the world. We are all individuals with specific interests and learning styles as well as our own preconceptions and levels of understanding.

Accessibility' can be a vexed word in heritage interpretation, but this engaging and eminently useful book manifests accessibility at every turn. Interpreting Heritage　contains more than 200 examples from the author’s extensive experience in the field to illustrate in-practice positives and negatives, easy wins, and the pitfalls of the potentially endless ways in which information on history, art, science, landscape, culture and the environment can be successfully communicated to audiences. The best interpretation makes visitors feel engaged and empowered, on both an intellectual and emotional level.For fifty years, Freeman Tilden's Interpreting Our Heritage has been an indispensable sourcebook for those who are responsible for developing and delivering interpretive programs.

When you choose Heritage Interpreting, you’re opting for a language service provider and a trusted partner committed to your success. Their fascination was, importantly, not only with the natural world, but also with how they would go about sharing it with others – how they would interpret what they cared about. At first glance Tilden's principles seem simple and direct, but on reflection they are as paradoxical and poetic as the process of interpretation itself.I applaud Steve Slack who says in his introduction "if you do find any rules in the pages of this book, you have my permission to break them". By ‘accessible’, we mean the extent to which a project or place can be used and engaged with by its audiences.