Customer Reviews

Environmental Interpretation: A Practical Guide for People with Big Ideas and Small Budgets

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This fun-to-read, chock-full of useful ideas book should be in any Interpreter's library. In fact, if I could only buy one book for my interpretive library, this would be it. Several rangers I know (inc. myself) refer to this book as 'the Bible'. This was the book I chose for the required textbook for the Interpretive training course for docents at the Desert Botanical Garden. The chapters are concise and full of examples of interpretive theory IN ACTION. Lots of whimsical pictures to illustrate main points-- but don't think just because it has pictures that it is full of fluff. It's a reference book you will pick up again and again to review interpretive techniques. Definitely a 'how-to', hands-on book.

Sam Ham's Environmental Interpretation distills Freeman Tilden's six principles of interpretation into four essentials. The book then serves as a comprehensive 'how to' guide to preparing your own interpretive programs, from guided walks to exhibit signage.

Ham's principles guided me in the creation of my documentary "Tracking the Anasazi - How Great Houses and Stripped Resources Led To Abandonment". His section on creating a theme for any presentation especially helped me focus on what I wanted to say. Answering the audience's unspoken question 'So what?' is essential in any presentation.

The sections on slides shows and blackboards may be a bit dated, but their general principles apply to any media you use. Overall, this book is very valuable to anyone doing interpretation. The National association for Interpretation (NAI) uses it in their certification test.

Ham is apparently working on an updated edition, but there's no word on when it will appear.

This is a pretty good book, but if I had to have only one on hand for interpretation this would not be it. I appreciated a lot of the information-especially the case studies of what other people have done, but the slide shows info. and making interp. signs seemed outdated or unrealistic.


Conductiong Meaningful Interpretation was/is a much better book in my opinion, but this is an interesting read.