Three other museum viewing experiences come to my mind:
The Bishop Museum in Honolulu has a series of windows looking in on
collections storage. Select objects are placed on shelves in the windows and
presumably, one could watch staff at work in that area. I visited on a weekend
and no one was in the space. I was fascinated, however.

The (darn, what's the name of it) Tar Pit musuem in LA boasts a
large, curved window where visitors can watch paleontology type
staff cleaning tar from fossils dug in the nearby tar pit. Very cool.
I stood for quite a while watching the process.

The Field Museum and their infamous McDonalds Prep Lab where visitors
could watch bits of Sue emerge from its matrix. I loved seeing the preparators
in safety equipment (including respirators) because it sent a great message
about how serious this work should be.

In all cases, as a museum-goer I enjoyed the casual, drop-in atmosphere
of these viewing spaces and never felt like a peeping tom. I know some of
the preparators at the Field hated being on display, but I always felt that
with an institutional committment to "customer service" and proper training
on how people learn in museums, much of that resentment could have been
avoided. Just the opinion of one observer.

Clearly visitors enjoyed these experiences. The windows were always crowded
and people were engaged in discussing what they saw with the others in
their groups.

D.Gutenkauf

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