When balancing visitors’ desire for “more information” with the very real limitations of gallery space, time, and museum fatigue, QR codes might seem like the perfect solution.   In theory, QR codes can let visitors who want more information dive deeper, in the moment or after their visit. QR codes can also allow for museum staff to share extra information, resources, and other content that wasn’t able to make it into an exhibition. But, are QR codes in exhibitions actually being used? And are they worth the time staff invested in creating them?

Useful survey data doesn’t magically appear at the end of an evaluation study. It starts at its inception with a question you ask yourself: Why are we collecting surveys in the first place?

Two of this month's picks center curiosity and what feeds it. Our third pick stands apart but is well worth your time: a call for museums to back up their values with concrete action.

This month's picks all circle back to one essential question: Are we living up to our purpose? From interrogating AI adoption, to building a values-based decision-making tool, to rediscovering what drew us to museum work in the first place, we share resources that push us to think about how we work and why.

Facilitating conversation is certainly a skill that is important in research, evaluation, and strategy work.  Sometimes, I am the conversation facilitator, such as in workshops, one-on-one interviews, or focus groups.  Other times, I am analyzing transcripts from a conversation someone else has facilitated.  Show me a transcript, and without even reading everything, I can normally tell pretty quickly if it is a good facilitated conversation. 

This month we are sharing resources that highlight the power of planning — because whether you're designing for visitors, reimagining your museum's role in the community, or preparing for a leadership transition,thoughtful planning is what transforms good intentions into thriving institutions.

This month we share resources that explore AI through a questioning lens — public skepticism, concerns with research integrity, and how these tools shape the way we think. It’s a good reminder that curiosity goes hand-in-hand with asking challenging questions.

Museums continue to face growing pressures and censorship threats, yet crises like this can spark new pathways forward. With this in mind, this month we recommend the annual TrendsWatch from the American Alliance of Museums, a story of not backing down, and a proposition for museums to embrace a new paradigm.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not going away. For the last few years, it has been something we at Kera have regularly talked and written about. Inspired by those conversations, we decided it was time to set some guidance for how we approach AI in our work. Given the rapidly evolving contexts, we opted for a values-driven guidance versus more prescriptive directives on AI use.

Museums and cultural institutions are at a crossroads, balancing bold exploration of human experience (art, awe, authentic storytelling) with challenges like decreased visitation and censorship. How can museums forge a path forward with integrity and courage?

In today’s world, we need creative problem solving skills more than ever to plan for an uncertain future and unexpected developments. This month, explore how creative problem solving helps to interpret history in politicized times, rethink philanthropy, and address unexpected uses of AI in research.

For museum program facilitators, a post-program reflection tool is a great way to not only reflect on your teaching and facilitation practice, but also generate rich data with which to evaluate your participants’ progress. At Kera, we often include these first-person perspectives in program evaluation designs as an additional data set to triangulate with data representing other relevant perspectives, like those of program participants or museum program managers.

When things don’t go as planned, it can be painful and frustrating. Yet there are other ways to do something, other paths to take. This month we share three resources to remind us of this.

In reviewing our recent blog posts, I realized that we don't talk as often about museum audiences as I would have expected. This surprised me because—as a company with over 35 years of history—we have learned so much about museum audiences over the years. We also advocate for museums to center their work around people! Therefore, I wanted to tap into our collective knowledge and share some key insights about museum audiences.

In this article, Gwendolyn Fernandez and Hannah Heller share insights from their analysis of 2024 Museum Workers Relief Fund applications, offering a snapshot of where museum workers stand in summer 2025 and what they hope for the future of museums.

Eras of censorship and misinformation are not unfamiliar to the United States—from the repression of political activists to banned books to manufacturing consent for genocide. Today, many feel scared and unsure of how to proceed with this administration’s actions and orders regarding repression of political speech and censorship of topics like race and gender identity. So how do we, as evaluators and museum professionals, confront this era?

What happens when you take a chance and try something new? The  resources we recommend this month explore reflections on failure, an intriguing program that puts visitors in artists’ shoes, and co-creating exhibits with the community.

I’ve led many timing and tracking studies, from those focused on specific galleries to an entire museum floor to a whole museum, and have seen firsthand the kind of lightbulb moments unobtrusive observational data can spark for exhibition designers, museum educators, and others. Recently, however, I’ve been sitting with a different kind of data: my own discomfort—a quiet unease that grew too loud to ignore.

What was the last story that you heard? 

Perhaps, your child told you about their day. Dashia and her bestie at day care used their dinosaur toys, a slightly haggard T-Rex and colorful triceratops, to act out a drama that sounded suspiciously like Lord of the Rings. Or you and your colleague were catching up; he told you about his weekend trip to a new city. His day began with getting lost but ended with finding a scenic outlook. Maybe you were talking with a grandparent. The phrase “back in my day” began, and you learned how your grandma had once travelled from Alabama to Michigan to start a new life, one suitcase in hand.

This month's resources show how shifting your perspective—through storytelling, moments of awe, and embracing contradiction—can deepen empathy, help you navigate difficult times, and open new paths for understanding ourselves and others.