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A ModernMuseum – The Kennedy Presidential Library and Edward Kennedy PoliticalInstitute

Most people including myself have an image of a museum as a place  with static exhibits accompanied by small print explanations that are  difficult and dry to read. Occasionally, such an exhibit attends world wide  fame such as the Mona Lisa painting or the Venus sculpture.  But how many museums exhibits that we visited during a tour are truly  memorable.

But advances in visual technology and presentation are beginning  to change museum exhibits. A case in point is the Kennedy Presidential  Library and the new (2015) Edward MKennedy (EMK) Political Institute in Boston. Although I have visited the Kennedy Library many times in the past,  the most recent visit finds that she has completely revamped the exhibits.  The exhibits are now mostly video chronicle the life story of JFK.  There is no need to read small print explanations besides static exhibits.  Instead you are told a story. Furthermore,the EMK institute, located next door and new this year, has gone completely interactive with computerized video.  From the time you enter, you are issued an electronic tablet which then interacts with you as if you are a freshman senator. The tablet through interactions with you and video on various screens and stages teaches you how to sponsor and debate a bill, how to negotiate compromises, and how finally to pass a bill into legislation. It is almost a100% real life experience of being a senator which of course was what Edward Kennedy  devoted his entire life to; and the EMK Institute is now his legacy. I hope more and more museums in the world can and should take advantage of technology to make visits more enjoyable and knowledge-fulfilling  (my last visits to the Forbidden Palace in 2012 and the Beijing Museum in 2013 still found little modern technology.)