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Exhibitions: Resources for Curators of Library Exhibitions: Exhibition Text General Guidelines

A guide to assist librarians, faculty, or students who are creating an exhibition in UCSB Library.

Label Text

This page contains general guidelines for writing exhibition text, including length guidelines.

Label Length

All types of labels should be as short as possible.
EXHIBITION TITLE To attract attention; to inform about the theme 1-7 words
INTRO LABELS To introduce the big idea; to orient visitors to the space 20-300 words
GROUP LABELS To interpret a specific group of objects; to introduce a subtheme 20-150 words
CAPTION LABELS To interpret individual objects, models, phenomena. 20-150

 
From Beverly Serell's  Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach Second Edition (2015)

            

Attribution

The UCSB Library is committed to making a reasonable effort to identify the origin and creators of all works on display, and to attribute these works accordingly, per standard practices in the library field (excerpted below).

“Full attribution, in a form satisfactory to scholars in the field, should be provided for each work included or excerpted in an exhibit, to the extent it can be determined with reasonable effort.”  Association of Research Libraries Code of Best Practices in Fair Use

“Institutional practices must be designed so that exhibitions, publications, and public information are presented honestly and objectively. The stated origin of an item or attribution of a work must reflect thorough investigation and must promptly be changed in the event of accurate challenge. Library exhibitions and publications routinely address a wide variety of social, political, artistic, or scientific issues. Exhibitions from whatever source and on any subject can be appropriate, if approached objectively and without prejudice.” Standards for Ethical Conduct for Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Librarians, with Guidelines for Institutional Practice in Support of the Standards, 2d edition, 1992

 

Please also see the UCSB Library's page on Copyright & Fair Use.

Your Audience

Text should be written for a general, non-specialist audience and at an 8th grade reading level. Aim to appeal to would-be readers--those who will read if the label is short enough.

MS Word lets you check the readability of your text.  Instructions linked here.

Entertaining 10 point guide to writing exhibition text from the V&A

In Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach, Beverly Serrell offers a list of “10 deadly sins" that should be avoided in exhibits:

1.    Labels that are not related to a big idea, that ramble without focus or objectives.
2.    Labels that have too much emphasis on instruction (presenting information) instead of interpretation (offering provocation).
3.    Labels that do not address visitors' prior knowledge, interests, and/or misconceptions—that don't know who the audience is.
4.    Labels with no apparent system of design and content to organize the messages, codes, or context.
5.    Labels written with a vocabulary that is out of reach for the majority of visitors.
6.    Labels that are too long and wordy.
7.    Labels that ask questions that are not the visitors' questions.
8.    Labels for interactives that do not have instructions or interpretations located in integrated, logical ways.
9.    Labels that do not begin with concrete, visual references.
10.  Labels that are hard to read because of poor typography (bad choice of typeface, design, colors, lighting, materials, or placement).

Label Text Size

• ID label (tombstone): min. 18pt - max. 20pt
• Caption label: min. 16pt - max. 18pt
• Group label: min. 18pt - max. 22pt
• Introductory label on wall: min. 30pt
• Introductory label in case: min. 20pt