Formative Evaluation: Places of Invention Online Map

Under a subcontract with Randi Korn & Associates, who conducted a study of the on‐site museum exhibit, RMC was engaged to conduct an evaluation of the Places of Invention online map site for the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. The Places of Invention online map, part of the 3,500 square foot on‐site exhibit, was developed as a platform for collecting invention stories related to specific places or landscapes submitted by Smithsonian staff, Smithsonian Affiliations, and visitors to the online map. RMC investigated three key topics related to visitors to the online map: (1) Test draft and revised guidelines for visitor submissions of invention stories to the online map; (2) Test navigation and appeal—both visual and content—of the online map; and (3) Compare the numbers, types, and characteristics of published invention stories submitted by visitors through the Exhibit or via the Web. Due to construction and technical delays, a fourth topic concerning visitor gains in knowledge about and attitudes toward invention, inventors, and themselves as inventive, could not be investigated.