Results

Curators admit to initial scepticism about the Ekarv method, and particular to being worried that it would be too simplistic and unsuitable for presenting complex ideas. However, they agreed to experiment with it, initially to a level with which they felt comfortable. They found it to be a demanding process: the brevity of the text meant that they had to make clear decisions about the precise points to be presenting in each panel.

Moran says that she "gently guided" curators through the process, responding to requests for advice, but without being prescriptive. Staff sometimes worked in small groups to discuss possibilities. The final decision about the wording of each piece of text remained with the curator who wrote it.

Gradually, the curators became convinced of the merits of Ekarv, and more confident about using it as they put it into practice. By the third gallery (the Victory gallery), they were using Ekarv in its most pure and poetic' form. One curator comments: "To move away from Ekarv now would be a big step backwards - visually and educationally."

Visitors now seem to spend longer in each of the refurbished galleries (although there have been a great many changes in addition to the use of Ekarv texts) and a limited visitor survey has showed that visitors like the display panels, with 83 per cent rating them as "excellent" or "very interesting". Visitors' comments include: "The accompanying text is extremely clear and readable. Short sentences are a very good idea and Quite the most interesting, informative and well presented exhibition I have ever seen'. in contrast, one visitor noted: Everything was wonderful except the text explanations on the exhibits were not very adult; seemed to be aimed at children; very simplistic.

The RNM's director, Campbell McMurray, is convinced of the benefits of the Ekarv method and rejects the view that simpler texts mean that visitors learn less. in fact, the opposite is true. Remembering how little time most people used to spend in the old galleries, he comments: "We perhaps used to be rather over optimistic in our assumptions about what visitors learned."

Other benefits of the Ekarv approach are the consistency it has given to texts Written by several different curators, and the concise, straightforward language, which is easier for visitors with a limited knowledge of English to read and translate. It also works well when people read it to others, for example when adults read to children. So far there is only anecdotal evidence that. the Ekarv approach supports visitor learning better than more conventional texts. As the method gains in popularity there may be a case for a more formal evaluation of its effectiveness.