Research Questions asked by Informal Learning Practitioners: A Seriously Informal Survey

This forum article was adapted from a White Paper presented in 2005 at the National Academies in Washington D.C., by VSA President-Elect Kathleen McLean. This provocative article suggests that there is a gap between the world-views of museum practitioners and those of visitor studies professionals and academic researchers. Although many of the questions being asked by practitioners appear similar to research with which we are familiar, it is suggested that these results are not always accessible to practitioners in a form that can be easily applied.