A single excess element can derail an entire display’s educational effect

Evidence

The answer is simple. The owner of the painting considered it fine art, and it is; he felt that it could be displayed with propriety, and it can; he was sure that it fitted with the general subject of the museum, and he was right; but he could not bear to leave it out, and he was wrong. It is excess. The display would be better off without it. — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 488

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Interpretive presentations fail through excess, not just deficiency of content — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 485