Beyond the Books: Programs for Exhibitions

Abstract

Exhibitions of rare books and manuscripts are increasingly seen as an important medium through which curators can make special collections more accessible to both the scholarly and nonspecialist public. However, the installation itself should be viewed as only one mechanism which the curator can and should use to communicate through an exhibition—and it may not always be the most effective one. Publications such as the exhibition catalog provide an alternative avenue of approach; as do exhibition programs in which the visitor can participate, the subject of this article.

As might be expected, there is a spectrum of opinion on . . .