Digital Exhibit Review
Write a critical review of a digital/virtual exhibit based on the guidelines below and post it on the class WordPress blog. Your blog post review should be approximately 800 words and should be written in essay form. Be sure to include the following information (not necessarily in this exact order)
- A distinct title for your essay/blogpost
- The main site venue (institution or organization presenting/supporting the exhibit)
- The title of the exhibit, the site URL and the date(s) of your visit within your review.
- Use 3 -5 images to illustrate the exhibit you are reviewing.
- share links to your exhibit.
- Who is/are the exhibit curator(s)?
- Is there a bibliography?
Your review should cover all of the following areas:
Content
- Identify the big idea. (Big Idea = a single sentence—with a subject, an action, and a consequence—that tells what the exhibition is about.)
- Who is/are the target audience(s)?
- Your review essay should have a specific, original and clearly stated thesis of your own in which you make an argument about how and why the exhibit contributes to our understanding of its topic.
- Write an analysis of the exhibit that explains what it is about, the different approaches to the topic or theme (for example, economic, social, political, gender differences) and explain what those are; consider the time period being addressed by the exhibit (if appropriate)
- Is there a bias or slant in interpretation of the story? In other words, does the exhibit offer a particular point of view?
- What types of new knowledge or experiences can a viewer discover or have?
- Why was this topic considered important for an exhibit?
- Be sure to write a brief conclusion in which you synthesize your argument and reflect on the exhibit’s strengths and weaknesses (successes and need for improvements).
Methodology:
- Describe how a viewer navigates around the site (scrolling, links, menus, site maps, etc.)
- What is the level of ease to find your way around the site?
- Does the exhibit function primarily in a linear fashion or can the viewer be more self-directed?
- Evaluate how well the site functions. What improvements could be made?
Design and accessibility :
- Describe the visual elements of the exhibit (Photographs? Drawings? Diagrams? Maps?)
- What types of artifacts are featured? What kinds of sources were used?
- Are the images well captioned and/or and helpful in telling the story? Explain.
- Describe the relative amount of text versus images
- Describe the color theme, font type and sizes
- How legible/accessible is the site?
Some ideas for your essay/post:
- This is an online space, how can you make the post more digitally active?
- Consider comparing the exhibit to another one that you have engaged with – use images or links.
- Consider including multimedia especially as it relates to the exhibit you are reviewing (video, social media)
First attempt at a side comment.