the habitat is quintessential

I think that one of the most important thing that a museum needs to be effective is environment that the museum puts people into. Environment meaning: lighting, décor, architecture etc. this gets people more involved in the exhibit and thus helps people appreciate the content that they are enjoying. The environment is especially important because the audience needs to be involved but not distracted by it. That is why many museums have trouble with this aspect, it is a fine line between not enough and too much. Many museums are on the too little end of the line. Many museums think that the less they have outside the exhibits the more people will be interested in them but that is not true. If I were to own a museum I would decorate it in the style of the era that the museum is focused, literally enveloping my audience in the experience of that time period. That would be much more memorable that simply looking at artifacts and art from behind a pane of glass. The lighting is a very important part of the environment because it allows, or disallows, people to see what is being displayed. Art museums tend to go overboard with lighting. They love to display the art so much that they often leave the walkways and halls poorly illuminated, I remember tripping trying to get around in a particular art museum. Also art museums tend to rely heavily on natural light and sometimes the light that comes from the large windows is not advantageous to the viewer depending on the angle of the light and the intensity.