As an important carrier for the dissemination of Chinese culture, museums play an important role in promoting cultural self-confidence and fulfilling the cultural mission of the new era. How to better excavate the cultural treasures of museums, inherit and display the excellent achievements of Chinese civilization is a big article that we should do well and must do well in the new era, among which museum explanations play an irreplaceable role as an important way for visitors to understand the profound culture contained in museums. At present, the basic functions of the museum interpretation system are complete, but there are still some problems, which need to be solved through optimization and innovation.
I. Main Issues.
(1) Manual explanation
The first is the arrangement of the narrator. The number of professional docents is small, and the service mode of waiting for customers does not match the needs of visitors; There are some problems in volunteer explanation, such as large mobility of interpreters, poor systematization and lack of pertinence of explanation content, and large differences in the level of explanation.
The second is the issue of explaining the content. The content of the explanation basically meets the requirements of comprehensive and professional, but there is still a list of explanations in a considerable number of museums.
1. The phenomenon of too narrow explanation perspective is difficult to match with the diversified explanation needs of visitors. At the same time, it is also a practical problem that the update and iteration of explanations are slow, and the selectivity of foreign language explanations, dialect explanations, and children's dialect explanations is small.
(2) Electronic explanation
The first is the issue of electronic explanation equipment. The traditional electronic interpretation equipment is relatively simple, mainly using the audio guide, and generally can only be carried out in a specific area of the museum, and some electronic devices are not friendly enough to the elderly and children, and the whole age and intelligence need to be improved. At the same time, the author's investigation found that the electronic interpretation system of some museums has problems that cannot be used normally, for example, the signal of the rental guide equipment is unstable, and the equipment in some exhibition halls is out of order, and the information cannot be broadcast normally. In addition, the position of the electronic explanation buttons, icons and *** settings in some museums is not humane enough, inconvenient to use, and the broadcast effect is not ideal, and some have even become "toys" for children's entertainment.
The second is the issue of electronic explanation content. Electronic explanation and manual explanation are roughly the same in the content of the explanation, and a considerable part of the electronic explanation is mainly based on the best recorded audio data or display text description summary, which lacks a certain degree of interest and interactivity, and cannot meet the social needs of some visitors. Electronic guides usually only protect and serve some key cultural relics, and cannot comprehensively explain the cultural relics in the museum. In addition, electronic explanations also have the problem of slow update and iteration of explanations.
2. Countermeasures and suggestions.
(1) Emphasize professionalism and excellent content
The soul of the museum explanation is professional and cultural, a good explanation is the premise of giving full play to the advantages of the museum, the key point of the explanation is that the content is professional, written by people, and changes according to the times, which can be focused on from the following aspects:
The first is to improve the accuracy and interest of the content of the explanation. Experts and scholars in relevant fields should be invited to participate in the compilation of museum explanations, and when necessary, the wisdom of the crowd can be mobilized and multiple people can be invited to write at the same time, so as to achieve collective wisdom and ensure accuracy and professionalism. After the compilation is completed, attention should be paid to strengthening the review of the historical accuracy and cultural connotation of the explanations, and experts in relevant fields can be invited to review them, so as to correct their current professional knowledge errors and improve the quality of the explanations. In addition to simply explaining the historical and cultural content to the visitors, you can also add some questions to the explanations to strengthen the interaction with the visitors, stimulate the interest of the visitors, and spread the knowledge of cultural relics. While improving the accuracy and interest of the content of the explanation, we should also pay attention to the protection of the cultural achievements of the compilers and the protection of intellectual property rights of the explanation.
The second is to pay attention to the differentiated writing of explanatory words. The content of the explanatory words should be focused on according to the different needs of visitors of different ages, and can be appropriately classified according to the characteristics of the museum itself and with reference to the explanatory standards, which are divided into different explanatory words such as the public version, the professional version, the popular science version, the primary school student version, the middle school student version, and the college student (including graduate students) version. For example, more attention should be paid to the popularization of knowledge transfer in the public version of the explanation, and more basic cultural knowledge should be added to the explanation of the primary school version. At the same time, it is also necessary to pay attention to the different ways of compiling explanatory words, such as when explaining to children, the compilation of explanatory words should pay attention to starting from the perspective of children, using children's words and children's language, so that children can be both interested and basically understandable.
The third is to update the content of the explanatory words in a timely manner. The compilation of museum explanations should highlight the needs of cultural education and dissemination, and be revised and updated according to the changes of the times and different exhibition themes. In this regard, museums with conditions can combine artificial intelligence technology to compile personalized customized explanations.
Finally, while fully reflecting the content of the exhibition, the museum narration should also pay attention to the overall length control, and actively look for the combination between the museum's cultural relics and visitors, so as to achieve concise language, focus, accuracy, popularity, and vividness. At the same time, attention should be paid to the compilation of crosswords, so that the explanation between the cultural relics can be natural, so as to achieve the purpose of connecting the previous and the next, so as to alleviate the fatigue of visitors.
(2) Increase personnel and strengthen training
Some experts pointed out that "the collection of cultural relics is the heart of the museum, education is its soul, and the docent is the person who grasps the soul". The competent departments for cultural relics and museums shall attach great importance to the irreplaceable role of museum docents in cultural publicity.
Museums need to combine the actual situation and strive to break through the problems of too few professional interpreters, boring explanations, and low work enthusiasm. The specific measures are divided into the following aspects:
The first is to take multiple measures to increase the number of museum docents. In the case of the general shortage of museum docents, it is possible to consider hiring some contract docents, or introducing docents through third-party professional companies or cooperation. In addition, a social docent system can be established to issue museum docent qualifications to those who have undergone professional assessment and training and meet the requirements, and allow them to enter the museum for explanation. For other personnel, it is necessary to strictly control the on-site explanation, put an end to the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the museum's cultural relics and culture, ensure the correctness and accuracy of the museum's explanation, and maintain the order of the museum's explanation.
The second is to improve the professionalism and interest of the museum interpretation process. Support the docents to strengthen the accumulation and learning of professional knowledge, guide the docents to give full play to their subjective initiative, fully mobilize the existing knowledge when carrying out the explanation work, and integrate it into specific practice. At the same time, it is necessary to establish and improve the systematic training system for the growth of docents in line with the characteristics of the museum, and cultivate scholar-type interpreters in combination with the professional title evaluation system. The museum should also establish a daily learning and training system for professional docents, and carry out learning and training for all docents through various forms such as museum research experts training for docents, experienced docents helping to pass on, and docents observing and learning from each other; Organize business training activities for commentators throughout the country and encourage them to participate; Museums around the world learn from each other's experience to improve the comprehensive ability of museum docents, such as writing ability, language ability, and adaptability. In terms of improving the interest of museum explanations, docents should pay attention to cultivating the thinking of "visitors", and make appropriate adjustments to the specific content of explanations according to the concerns and needs of different visitors; Attention should be paid to the explanation process supplemented by questions and practical links, such as asking questions about the common sense problems in the explanation process, inviting visitors to try to explain the cultural relics, etc., so as to improve the visitor's sense of interaction and participation.
Finally, it is necessary to improve the enthusiasm of museum docents. Regularly hold museum docent competitions or internal selection activities for outstanding docents, select docents with solid professional knowledge and active work, and motivate them materially or spiritually, so as to improve the love of museum docents for their own work. At the same time, various forms of incentives will be given to the appointment system, appointment system, and contract system of interpreters with particularly excellent performance.
(3) Emphasize science and technology and build a system
On October 30, 2023, the National Museum of China launched a cloud exhibition of Chinese civilization on a pilot basis, and the virtual digital docent "Ai Wenwen" led visitors to view the exhibition online and gave interactive explanations, which improved the visitors' viewing experience. In the environment of cloud computing, big data, and holographic projection technology, the combination of online and offline, and the coexistence of physical and technical museums, the scientific and technological level of the museum interpretation system should be improved, and modern science and technology should be fully used to carry out the interpretation work, and the specific measures include the following aspects:
The first is to improve the overall scientific and technological level of museums. Museums should attach importance to investment in scientific and technological explanation, establish a scientific and technological system for museum interpretation, and make full use of intelligent modern digital technology to create a more intelligent and immersive museum visiting experience. The museum can understand the real needs of visitors under the premise of protecting privacy and data security through research, big data analysis, etc., and can also guide visitors to make explanations and reservations and learn relevant cultural relics knowledge through the museum's official website, ** and other network clients. It should be noted that the needs of special groups should also be considered when conducting electronic explanations, and the interpretation services for socially disadvantaged groups should be increased, such as sign language explanations can be added to the explanation screen to take care of the interpretation needs of the hearing impaired.
The second is to improve the intelligent level of electronic explanation equipment. With the help of modern scientific and technological means, museums should upgrade and update self-service interpretation equipment, regularly update and maintain interpretation equipment, expand the scope of application of electronic equipment in the museum, and use relevant technical means to replace and update electronic interpretation content in a timely manner. Through VR, AR experience, interactive games and other innovative display devices, the sense of immersion is highlighted and the interactive experience of visitors is enhanced. (Authors: Beijing Union University, Beijing No.11 School, Kong Lingxue, Liu Chunyu, Zeng Zijin; Editor: Song Yuqiu).