>Overall, museums are highly respected as sources of information and
>enlightenment, but they are marginalized whenever questions of
>allocations of resources (time or money -- either personal, corporate or
>governmental) come into question.
 
        I agree with this too, but I think it misses
the point of Jim's comments.  As I understood, Jim Swanson
does NOT consider museums as being highly respected sources
of information and enlightment.  THIS IS A CRUCIAL DISTINCTION
and I dont want it lost in the shuffle.  Jim's point is
that museums are just another entity trying to convince the
world that it has something worthwhile, or at best, a place
to store old artifacts.  I think this is a very negative and
inaccurate description of museums.  The question is not
marginalization by outside influences but the value of
museums in this world...
 
Robert Guralnick | Museum of Paleontology | University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720 | [log in to unmask] | (510) 642-9696