In the lobby, there is a beautiful and prominent display of the university’s history. When it was first designed in 2019, it was current up until that time. Since then, only the new president has been added. It still has the Student of the Year from 2019, makes no mention of new buildings, and does not account for additional sports. If the new president wasn’t featured and it remained from the founding to 2019, it would make sense to me, but adding one update without others seems inconsistent.
I’ve seen other “permanent” displays that look wonderful at inception, but lose their luster when data or photos are out of date. One display features statistics of donor giving and impact from 2017. It’s so much a part of the fabric that I doubt those who work there even see it anymore, thus, never think to change it.
Think carefully before creating any display that showcases materials that will be there over the long term. Time often flies by more quickly than the curators account for, and no one is tasked with updating responsibilities. Soon, the message sent from the display is entropy rather than information.
