As usual, Stephen has hit on the real issue and one that merits
discussion on this list.

Is it the duty of the museum community to publicly take issue with the
Creation Museum's use of the word "museum" for its displays?  I believe
that rather than assaulting the subject matter of the facility (which is
a loaded battle to take on), this could be a golden opportunity for
every museum to focus on educating the public about what a museum is and
does.  Museums collect, preserve and interpret original objects (or
living collections) for the benefit of those who wish to learn from what
they (the collections) have to offer.  We can stress that definition in
our daily work.

Julia Muney Moore
Public Art Administrator
Blackburn Architects, Indianapolis, IN
(317) 875-5500 x219
   
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Stephen Nowlin
Sent: Saturday, June 16, 2007 3:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Creation Museum : take it off line, please! -
DON'T

...The difference here is that the "Creation Museum" is
intentionally extorting the deserved credibility of natural history
museums
by using the term.  ...This is and should be of concern to the museum
community, especially as it assaults the mission of natural history
museums and confuses the public about what is reliable information
presented in a museum and what is not.

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