On Tue, 23 Apr 1996, CarolM5397 wrote:

> To what extent is a Children's Museum distinctive from, say a preschool or
> an elementary school?

O.K. I've been silent long enough. I can only speak for The Children's
Museum of Indianapolis, but we have over 100,000 objects in our
collection, most of which are in our permanent collection.  We use
objects in long-term exhibitions, temporary "ephemeral" exhibits, loans,
programs, classes, outreach, and on and on.  I know there are only a
handful of children's museums around with substantial collections, but
please remember that we do exist.
Watch us!  Much of what we are doing with our collections policies and
procedures vis a vis use of objects is being adopted by more traditional
museums everywhere.

Robin Lipp
Collections Manager
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
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