Hi. I am from Mexico. I would like to try to answer to some of of your
question, I am not very sure If I understood them, and besides the
situation in Mexico is verey determined by political and economical
factors.
>
>Do the objectives of your museum/service (e.g. as expressed in a
mission
>statement or forward plan) include provision for research and
scholarship?
>If not, why not? They do include provision for research, but it is not
always done because of lack of time and money.
>
>Does your museum charge fees for research services? They donīt.

>
>Many curators here feel they have to concentrate on visitor services,
>outreach, marketing, etc to the detriment of collections research due
to
>political, ideological and financial pressures. Are curators in other
>countries feeling the same pressures? The same is happening in Mexico,
all the marketing and visitor services are included in the planning of
exhibitions.
>
>What kinds of research should have priority in museums in the future?
>Collections based, or service-based? In Mexico, I think they are trying
to put both of them together. We canīt forget about the services,
because people is not used to visit museums in regular barir, so we have
to do different things to attract them, but trying to keep the quality
of our exhibitions.
>
>Is scholarship for is own sake viable or should it always be a means to
an
>end? Is more often a means to an end.
>
>One issue that has arisen in our discussions of the nature of research
is
>the difference between the taxonomic approach  vs. the hermeneutic,
i.e.
>the “list makers“ vs the "interpreters".  Is this a valid distinction?
Is
>one kind more scholarly than the other?  Are different approaches
subject
>specific?
>
>What impact does the use of short-term contract staff for specific
projects
>have on institutional knowlege, and curatorial training? It is like a
knowledgment exchange, but it is not usually done, specially in the
public institutions.
>
>How can we evaluate the  results of museum research, much if which is
not
>subject to peer review? If lack of research results in silly or
misleading
>displays, how can this be demonstrated? Here in Mexico, you can see
that the information is incomplete, is like something done to fast, that
is usually why the results are misleading displays, because there is
something pressing on us to finish sooner, and they forget we need
longer time to do all the things  you have to take care of. They are
usually the government or the directors of the institutions to which the
museums belong. Sometimes they start exhibitions for official purposes.
i.e. an exhibition about the Mexican Independence which the government
want to start on the 15th, but they had the idea one month before, and
you get only one month to gather the information and do the exhibition,
we know it is not enough time to do all the planning, research and
museographie.
>
>Any contributions to this discussion will be gratefully received, on or
off
>list. Thanks.
>
>Ann Gunn, University of St. Andrews
>
>Ann V. Gunn
>University of St. Andrews
>


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