Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 11, 2008|Volume 36, Number 25

Visitors to Peabody Museum can
learn fun facts via new audio tours

Beginning April 12, visitors to Yale’s Peabody of Museum of Natural History will be able to hear stories about the objects on permanent display as they conduct self-guided audio tours.

Thanks to the efforts of two of the museum’s most dedicated supporters, the museum is introducing audio guides that will allow visitors to key in 36 different stops, or locations, to hear stories and information about many of the museum’s most prized exhibits and specimens. The audio guides, offered free of charge, feature 70 minutes of commentary developed by museum curators and educators.

Visitors who use the guides will learn about why the Peabody Museum held a decapitation ceremony for its enormous Apatosaurus skeleton in the 1970s, the types of plant remains that were discovered in the stomach of the mummified mastodon, how the Alaskan brown bears survive in their harsh tundra habitat, the secrets of Egyptian mummification, and other interesting facts.

The audio tour fulfills a long-held wish and follows several years of research and determination by Peabody volunteer Dolores M. Gall. Having traveled to museums throughout the world, Gall noticed that the most acclaimed museums always have an audio guide for their visitors. “You come to expect that a great museum will have an audio guide, and the Peabody is a great museum,” comments Gall.

“The biggest advantage of an audio guide is that you are looking at the specimens, rather than spending time reading labels,” she adds. “Based on museum experience with my own granddaughters, young people are instantly engaged by the push-the-number audio wands as they walk through a museum, and you know that they are getting the most knowledgeable information.”

Several years ago, Gall spent much of her summer on a campstool reading labels and looking at the displays at the Peabody. After researching costs and developing a sample script, she proposed the idea of audio guides to Peabody director Michael J. Donaghue, who agreed that the guides were a great idea. Another long-time Peabody supporter, Lucille Alderman, heard about Gall’s proposal and volunteered to fund the project in memory of her late husband, Arnold J. Alderman. The Aldermans provided the support for the Hall of Native American Cultures at the Peabody, and Lucille Alderman says it was through her husband’s love of the museum and natural history that she became a follower herself.

The audio tours were produced by Acoustiguide, the producer of guides worldwide including those at the New York Botanical Gardens, the Frick Museum and the American Museum of Natural History. Visitors can use an Acoustiguide wand (available at the admissions desk), dial up the tour and listen to it on their personal cell phone, or they can download the tour to their personal MP3 players from the museum’s website (www.peabody.yale.edu). The museum provides instructions for the different uses and a map with stops. By keying in stops, visitors can listen to commentary at their own pace and in any order they choose.

The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 170 Whitney Ave., is open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sundays, noon-5 p.m. Unless otherwise noted, admission to exhibits and programs is free with admission of $7 for adults; $6 for senior citizens; and $5 for children ages 3-18. Admission is free for museum members, Yale I.D. holders and children under age 3. On Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., the museum is free and open to all. For more information, visit the museum’s website or call the Infotape at (203) 432-5050.

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