Mapping interpretive services: Identifying barriers to adoption and diffusion of the method

Van Every ME and Machlis GE. 1984. Mapping interpretive services: Identifying barriers to adoption and diffusion of the method. Visitor Services Project Report 2. University of Idaho, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences. Moscow, Idaho

A wide variety of interpretive services are offered at National Park Service areas, yet there is little systematic information available on who provides these services, where and when they are available, and the topics they cover. Information on concessioner services is especially lacking, and what little known is often scattered among the different concessioners operating in an area. Thus, there is a need to describe the diversity and distribution of public and private sector interpretive services. As part of a multi-year Visitor Services Project, a method was developed to inventory interpretive services and was pilot tested at Grand Teton National Park (Machlis et al. 1983). The results of this pilot test indicated that the mapping could provide a way to gather a relatively large and useful amount of information on interpretive services. In spite of this, the method may not be adopted by interpretive planners and managers within the NPS. Two questions guided this study. First, what are the barriers to adoption and diffusion of the interpretive mapping method? Second, how can the adaptability of the method be improved?

Type
Published Report
Authors
Van Every, Mark; Machlis, Gary
Date of Issue
1984
Publisher
University of Idaho, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences
Units
EQD , GRTE , SSB
Keywords
focus group research, stakeholder (or public) survey research, visitor monitoring, Visitor Services Project, visitor survey research

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