Bernice - Thank you for inserting the critical word "permanent". In
my humble opinion, permanency is inseparable from the basic human
trait of collecting. Over thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of
years, humans have collected items with the idea that they be saved
and handed down to future generations. Our museums are the ultimate
totem of this trait. Our ancestors didn't save items and build
museums so that they could be thrown away or torn down. I am acutely
sensitive to the challenges to permanency that have become critical
in many of our university museums and collections.

Peter B. Tirrell
Associate Director
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
The University of Oklahoma, US

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