ABSTRACT
On the one hand, we are called upon to assess the impact that museums have on visitors.
Increasing claims that museums play an important educational role have served to up the
ante on this issue dramatically. On the other hand, precisely what it is that we should be
evaluating remains unclear. Should visitors be acquiring new information? Should
they be developing new areas of curiosity-“opening a new file folder in their brain”
(Valenta, personal communication, 1997)? Should visitors be engaging in some sort of
identity project? Or is there something else they should take away from a museum visit?
