Monticello Explorer provides several virtual tours.
Although guided tours of period rooms is the most common form of interpretation at historic sites, audio tours, video tours, and virtual tours are growing in popularity thanks to technologies that are lowering the cost of production and increasing access to new audiences. From a short list of examples, the students in my “historic site interpretation” class at George Washington University developed a list of ten best practices for different types of tours of historic sites. You’ll discover that many of their suggestions emphasize the need for a plan, themes, and a focus–and projects that failed to have these elements were weaker and less effective.
A. Guided Tours of Period Rooms
Reviewed by Johanna Bakmas, Melissa Dagenais, Emma Dailey
- “Historic House Furnishings Plans” by Bradley Brooks in Jessica Donnelly’s Interpretation of Historic Sites (2002)
- “I Wish You Could Take a Peek at Us” by Nancy Bryk in Donnelly (2002)
- “Guidelines for Preparing Historic Furnishings Reports: an Annotated Sample of Contents” by the National Park Service (retrieved September 2, 2012)
- “When Values Collide: Furnishing Historic Interiors” by Carol Petravage in Preservation of What, for Whom? edited by Michael Tomlan (National Council for Preservation Education, 1999), pp. 151-158.
- “Historic Furnishings Report: William Johnson House” (NPS, 2004).
Suggested Best Practices
Do
- Develop an interpretive plan and themes
- Consult primary sources for the property
- Decide whether to have reproduction or original pieces
- Properly train staff and guides
- Frame the tour around a specific/meaningful story
Don’t
- Furnish without an interpretive plan
- Implement “moment in time” interpretation without a specific event in mind
- Bring in too many people or stories
- Pick an interpretive theme without consulting others
- Make a fixed plan that cannot be easily adapted
B. Video Tours
Reviewed by Allison Schell, Amanda Seymour, Dara Shore
- “Downtown Washington, D. C. Night Tour” by CosmoPhotography (2011)
- “Washington DC / Arlington VA, USA – 2011 Walking Tour” by GlobeTrotterAlpha (2011)
- “Washington D.C.: Up-close & Personal” by TurnHereFilms (2007)
- “Washington DC City Tour” by DennisCallan (2009)
- “A Perfect Day in Washington DC” by LonelyPlanet (2008)
Suggested Best Practices
Do
- Have a balance of information, audio, and ambient sound
- Use text efficiently and accessibly
- Have content and themes
- Use the location in context
- Utilize equal depth level
Don’t
- Overdo it on the text, audio, and ambient sound
- Use illegible or lengthy text
- Omit a theme
- Speak for diverse groups
- Have bad video quality or editing
C. Audio Tours
Reviewed by Caitlin Gillis, Jessica Pearl, Kory Potzler, and Katie Roberts
- Civil War to Civil Rights by Cultural Tourism DC
- Downtown Boston by Audissey Guides (also on iTunes)
- London by Rick Steves (iTunes)
- Cannery Row Walking Tour by the Monterey Bay Aquarium (iTunes)
- Sound Map: the Caledonian Road, a London Walks Podcast by the Guardian (iTunes)
Suggested Best Practices
Do
- Make it easily accessible (downloads)
- Provide clear physical directions, maps, and markers
- Include multiple voices
- Ensure clarity of sound
- Have a clear topic and theme
Don’t
- Be overly dramatic
- Have unnecessary background noise
- Have a difficult route
- Give a list of facts (use a narrative)
- Make it too long
D. Virtual Tours
Reviewed by Amanda Walli, Kristina Walton, and Jarrett Zeman
- The White House in the Google Art Project
- Drayton Hall Online Tour
- Snapshots of Provence
- Clara Barton Interactive Experience
- Monticello Explorer
- Virtual Mansion Tour (Mt. Vernon)
Suggested Best Practices
Do
- Make sure the panning/movement controls work well
- Include a stationary plan for physical orientation
- Include an introduction for conceptual orientation
- Offer multiple languages
- Target different audiences (example: kid’s activities)
Don’t
- Cover up important views
- Include too much information (be concise)
- Forget to connect your collections to your themes
- Offer only 360 degree views; include multi-media
- Exclude areas of the site that are interpreted on the on-site tour
Engaging Places 
Thanks for sharing this, Max. I think your students have compiled a list of useful reminders that even when it’s easy to produce digital content in-house, it’s vital that the hard work of interpretive planning comes first. While vendors of easy-to-use cell-phone tour programs advocate “thowing content out there,” an interpretive tour produced without content research, learning objectives, clear themes and a strong narrative will never be a satisfying experience for the visiting public.
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Thanks, Mary Jane. Yesterday was our last class and we held a discussion about the future of historic sites and house museums. To prompt the discussion, I asked them to work in three small groups to answer one of two questions:
If historic sites and house museums want to engage visitors through interpretation, the most important thing they should do is _____________.
If historic sites and house museums want to make a difference in their neighborhood or community, the most important thing they should do is _____________.
Ignoring my instructions (graduate students can be surprisingly independent), they answered both questions. Their answers to the first question were: audience research, visitor evaluation, and thematic interpretation. To the second question they were: be willing to change, create affinity groups and reach out to the community, and fill a need within the community.
My expectations for the next generation just went up a notch.
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I’m especially impressed that they can make a distinction between (long-term, outcomes-based) research and (short-term, immediately applicable) evaluation!
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Max, I’d love to see what your class thinks are the dos and don’ts of tour apps for phones and tablets. These usually mix audio, video, virtual, and photographic or other graphic stills in what can be a very complex way if done badly.
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Hi Sean! Apps are a growing interest among museums and historic sites, so I definitely considered them as a topic for study, however, I quickly ran into the challenge that participation is inconsistent due to operating systems (iOS vs Android), devices (not everyone has tablets and smartphones), and cost (another expense for “starving graduate students”). However, apps did come up in conversation and included Kapesni, History Pin, and the Museum of London’s StreetMuseum and Londinium, and a student just shared with me the Chihuly app which allows users to create their own glass sculpture by blowing onto the phone. When the device wars have settled, I’ll be better able to include apps in the curriculum (who knows, perhaps my class will be an app!).
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