In the midst of these strictures Ronald Lee appointed a committee on interpretive standards. He selected four experienced interpreters from his staff: Roy E. Appleman, historian, as chairman; Gunnar O. Fagerlund, naturalist; Carroll A. Burroughs, archeologist; and Donald J. Erskine, audiovisual specialist. Their highly critical report found a lamentable absence of standards recognized in the parks. In discussing park museums the committee stressed the similarity in form among exhibits, crowding too much content into individual exhibit units with consequent excessive labeling, circulation difficulties, and a lack of openness in exhibit rooms. Members perceived natural history as having received less adequate treatment than history in park museums. Events within the Service delayed any direct action on the committee's findings, but the report provided fuel for change.

Director Wirth retired in early January 1964. His successor, George Hartzog, lost no time in taking action to establish the priorities of the new directorship. These included three principal changes in park interpretation. The ability to communicate effectively with visitors would replace expert knowledge of subject matter as the prime requisite for park interpreters. The Service would greatly increase its investment in audiovisual media to supplement personal interpretive contacts. Museum work would undergo reorientation, especially in respect to exhibit policy. To effect the interpretive realignment Hartzog chose William C. Everhart, who had been chief park historian at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial while he was superintendent there. Moving up from the Long Range Requirements Task Force, Everhart became chief of the new Division of Interpretation and Visitor Services.

The energy that characterized Everhart's leadership became evident at once. Within a month of his promotion he secured the appointment of Carl G. Degen, a talented filmmaker, to head a new Branch of Motion Pictures and Audiovisual Services. Everhart also promptly organized an interpreters' conference that met six weeks later at Harpers Ferry. As a clear sign of his intentions the conference featured extensive discussions with Charles Eames, one of the leading designers in the display field.

The first steps to alter museum organization and practice preceded these actions. Before the end of February 1964 a Museum Study Team began a management survey of the Museum Branch. Director Hartzog appointed William S. Bahlman, chief of the Management Analysis Division, to chair the group and architect John Cabot, Assistant Regional Director I. J. (Nash) Castro of the National Capital Region, and Harold Peterson as members. The team submitted its report at the end of March, and Hartzog quickly approved it. The team had proceeded on two assumptions: first, the Park Service museum program should attain the highest standards of the museum profession; second, "in the excellence of exhibit design, in creative solutions to museum presentation, our museums should achieve first rank in the field of communicative arts."

The study confirmed the exemplary quality of workmanship in Service exhibits. It generally supported existing policy of contracting for exhibit construction when needed to maintain a stable level of employment in the laboratories. On the other hand, the team found management of the branch deficient in several respects. Scheduling needed to be tighter, supervision closer, internal communication improved, and employees more highly motivated. While justifiable, these criticisms perhaps also reflected the widespread interest at the time in aggressive management tactics. The comment on motivation probably related to the fact that preparators in particular lacked a satisfactory career ladder. Several fine craftsmen and artists could expect no further promotion unless the laboratories created an intermediate supervisory hierarchy for them.

A new Branch of Museum Development would plan, design, prepare, and install museum and wayside exhibits. In the process it would collaborate more closely with interpretive planners, architects, and landscape architects. When appropriate, it would contract for exhibit design as well as production. The staff would comprise a small headquarters group and the two exhibit laboratories, eastern and western. The report proposed a number of guidelines on managing production and on exhibit design and preparation. One of these-"The narrative story should, generally, be presented through publications and audiovisual means"-marked a turning point in the role of park museums. For nearly thirty years visitors could find in the museum a reliable, succinct, and integrated explanation of the features or events the park had been established to preserve or commemorate. Exhibits would continue to have their self-service advantages that visitors could adapt to their individual interests, but their new place in the interpretive program was not yet clear.