A docent program for Riceworld Museum and Learning Center of the International Rice Research Institute

• Main Authors: Bontia, Isabelle, Guerta, Diane
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Subjects: Riceworld Museum and Learning Center (Philippines) > Public relations; Publicity; Museum docents—Recruiting; Organizational Communication
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/5579
• Institution: De La Salle University

The Riceworld Museum and Learning Center (RMLC) of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) aims to show the importance of rice, rice science, and rice research through a variety of artifacts and exhibits. The museum receives 50,000 visitors per year, majority of which are elementary and high school students.The communication audit of RMLC showed the necessity of a docent program to explain the intended messages of the exhibits and the display labels to the student visitors. The communication audit further showed that the labels contain technical terms and jargons that can only be understood by scientists and rice professionals. Moreover, RMLC also lacks enough staff to provide guided tours to relay the messages consistently and accurately. Engaging docents will help RMLC achieve its objective.The program will involve training IRRI interns to become effective docents of RMLC. The proponents produced the materials needed for the docent program, which include a museum handbook and a training video. These materials will help docents convey consistent and accurate information to the visitors and handle tours effectively. The museum handbook contains concise yet substantial information for better understanding of the museum exhibits, while the training video shows step-by-step instructions and guidelines on how to be effective museum docents.The museum staffs and on-board interns evaluated the provide materials for the docent program through a survey and a focus group discussion. The docent program will be helpful to current and future tour guides of RLMC with the use of a good quality, useful and updated materials in conveying consistent and accurate information.