Yes, Gene, I think you are all wet. :-) It has been my experience that
people like to learn about what goes on behind the scenes in museums,
when the information is made available to them. It's just something they
don't necessarily think of because they may not know the questions to
ask. I think of the experience of the Museum of Science and Industry
using Elderhostel participants to assist in cataloguing, and of the
Exploritorium in placing staff behind glass walls so that visitors can
see them working. And your example of what goes into a making a book also
brings up the fact that people often are fascinated by that process, too,
if they have a chance to learn a little about it. We assist historical
societies and museums with local history publications. They are
interested to learn about signatures, Smyth sewing, recto and verso
pages, etc., and have told me that they never look at books the same way
again. I know that those of us who have worked on exhibits are sensitive
to how they are created, as well as the content, and I think our publics
welcome this kind of learning, too.
My 2cents.
Best regards,
Pat Miller





On Tue, 3 Dec 1996, Eugene W. Dillenburg wrote:

> Greetings, Museum-L-ers!
>
> I'd like to thank everyone who responded to my query a couple weeks ago
> about public knowledge of/interest in museum behind-the-scenes activities.
> I received some very thoughtful, interesting comments.  Our thread was even
> quoted in the Newsletter of the Illinois Heritage Association!
>
> In summary, all of the responses seemed to have two things in common:
> 1) Everyone agreed that it is important for the public to understand our
> behind-the-scenes activities.  Many offered anecdotal evidence of successful
> exhibits and programs on these themes.  2) Everyone who answered was a
> museum professional who already understands museum-based collections and
> research, thinks they're important, and works in the field not for money (as
> other
> threads have established), but out of a commitment to these principles.
>
> Is this what they mean by "a biased sample"?
>
> I of course agree with everything that's been said.  I, too, work in a
> museum, know about collections-based research, and believe it is very
> important.  But I have my doubts as to whether our audience wants or needs
> to know about it.  Are we in our self-referential exhibits and programs,
> like this thread, merely preaching to the converted?
>
> Allow me to play Devil's Advocate for a moment.  When I buy a book, I have
> no particular interest in Gutenberg and the history of books in Eropean
> tradition; or in the business of publishing (setting type, printing,
> marketing finished books, etc.); or even in the author him/herself, beyond
> a tiny blurb on the back jacket.  That's not why I buy books.  I buy them
> to read what the author has written.  And if every book contatined these
> other distractions, I'd get rather annoyed.
>
> Will this information make me a better consumer?  Will I buy more books,
> or encourage my friends to buy them, because I have this background?
> Will it make me a better reader?  Will I understand the contents of the
> book better if I know the process that went into making it?
>
> By foisting this information on the unsuspecting reader, what need is
> filled -- beyond the publisher's self-gratification?
>
> If publishers want a larger book-buying audience, or a more loyal audience,
> or a "better" one -- however that may be defined -- would they not reach
> those objectives most effectively by simply publishing better books?  Which
> is what the book-buying audience buys, anyway.
>
> Substitute "museum professional" for "book publisher," and tell me if the
> analogy holds any water?  Or am I all wet?
>
> Yours,
> Gene
>
> Eugene W. Dillenburg
> Coordinator, Special Projects
> Exhibits Department
> The Field Museum of Natural History
> Chicago, Illinois  60605-2496
> V: (312) 922-9410 x636
> F: (312) 922-6973
> E: [log in to unmask]
>
> "Never pay more than minimum wage for a shirt."
>
>                                 -- Bruce Elliott
>

Patricia L. Miller, Executive Director
Illinois Heritage Association
602 1/2 E. Green St., Champaign, IL 61820; (217) 359-5600
visit our homepage at http:www.prairienet.org/iha