This is to me a very interesting question; particularly as I am considering
giving up the search for a paid museum position and going back to school for
a JD.
What I would like to know is has any museum out there been sued as regards
to access issues, or is this just the same hatred of lawyers that Shakespear
voiced?
I find it hard to believe that a lawyer would waste time digging through
museum storage in hopes of finding some juicy item he/she can use to bring
up a case.
If a lawyer has a legitimate case which could be benefited by information
known to be in a collection, it is not the museum's part to pick sides by
denying access, and I can't see a case being brought against a museum for
allowing a researcher of any kind to follow standard procedures and access
the collection.
Vincent Lyon
[log in to unmask]

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://museums.state.nm.us/nmmnh/museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).