Unboxing My New Book on Digital Design in Museums

Yesterday a box arrived in the mail, this time not from Amazon. Instead, it was from the publisher of my new book: Making Dinosaurs Dance: A Toolkit for Digital Design in Museums. It’s such a thrilling experience to receive a copy of your own book for the first time. A bit overwhelming, and requires an adjustment, as it’s been in my head or a digital form for so so long and then, at long last, there it is in the physical world where I can hold in my hand and flip its pages.

The book is really three in one: a collection of cases studies for a framework about digital design in museums, a mini-memoir about my innovation-driven rise & fall at AMNH, and a collection of short stories about the joys of being a museum professional.

ORIGIN STORY

This book exists because of COVID-19. When I was let go by the Girl Scouts in their first round of pandemic-driven layoffs, I was not sure what I wanted to do next. A liminal period like that can cause one to do a lot of looking back and reflecting. And in that context I received an email, on Sept 23, 2020, to be exact, the very day I shared on LinkedIn my new professional status.

Alice, now working at a design firm, had seen me speak about my work at AMNH four years earlier, in Los Angeles, at the Museums and Web conference (“For, With and By – User Centric Museum Experiences for Kids”). At a time when I was questioning my value in the workplace, I was floored to hear what an impact it had on her to learn about our work developing Crime Scene Neanderthal. She wrote:

I was so impressed by the way that your exhibition on neanderthals continued to morph and change. Its been several years now but I remember that you incorporated volunteers and students who took the exhibition on as their own. It was remarkable to me how that initiative continued to bear fruit so much longer than most temporary exhibitions seem to do.

Working at Girl Scouts, I spent a number of years unable to give much thought to museums. Yet with the pandemic closing most museums, I found myself grieving for my former colleagues and the field in general. Alice made me realize that perhaps I had something of value to offer based on my six years at AMNH that could support the field at large. If that one talk about just one project had that sort of lasting impression, what else might I still have to share?

Luckily, I loved to blog. In six years at AMNH I posted roughly 350 posts, documenting design steps and lessons learned across innovative digital learning programs and experiments in visitor engagement, interviews with colleagues and big thinkers, thought pieces, and critiques of digital design in museums. I figured there just HAD to be a book in there somewhere.

After a few directions, the final concept emerged: identify a common set of practices across a range of projects then explore them though case studies. Then tie it all together through the loose narrative of my process entering, navigating, then exiting the museum. And season the mix with a few short stories. As I recount in the book’s Introduction, I then learned from Elizabeth Merritt that the American Alliance of Museums was seeking museum book ideas and I was off and running.

Two and a half years later, the process has concluded. The book is now out in the world.

GET A COPY

There are a number of ways to get your own copy.

While you certainly CAN buy your own copy (digital and analog) from Amazon, I’m not sure why one might do that. It’s so expensive. And while I can certainly use the ratings and user reviews, the most economical option is:

Buy a copy directly from the publisher, Rowman.com, and use my super secret code (“RLFANDF30“) to get 30% off.

Or, if you write me, I’d be happy to send you a pdf for free.

BOOK TOUR

I am so excited now to take the book on the road. Details are still coming together, but this is what I currently have in the works:

• A workshop based on the book at the upcoming (we’re back in person, baby!) MuseWeb conference, in D.C. This is the very conference where I first spoke about Crime Scene Neanderthal, which unexpectedly led to the book, so that’s pretty cool. I also hope to do a book signing there, and perhaps a short story reading.
• A NYC book release party: I am hoping to do something big early in spring, very likely in Brooklyn. To get on that invite list, be sure to join my book-related newsletter.
• On March 1st I will present the book to the The New York City Museum Educators Roundtable (NYCMER) during a special evening for both members and guests. Since so much of the book is about innovations in digital learning, I look forward to re-connecting with NYC’s museum educator community.
• On March 13, I’ll lead an afternoon session for AMNH Volunteers, who contributed so much to the projects documented within the books.
• I am teaching a 14-session graduate-level course at NYU, right NOW, based on the book. (And more on that later today…)
• I look forward to offering workshops based on the book to clients around the country. If you are interested in having me come out, please let me know.

So one phase of the book has concluded and a new one has begun. Thank you for being part of its journey.