I don't think that your analogy does quite fit. If taken to its logical
interpretation then we would be advising that you do an exhibiion on
how an exhibition was made-ie this team of people got together and
decided to do this etc. Sometimes for a particularly challenging or
controversial exhibition this may be appropriate but giving people access
to collections and to how collections are researched behind the scenes
is something different. Aren't discoveries rooms a sign of how much
visitors appreciate getting in touch with colelctions and 'researching'
them themselves. To take on your analogy, by completing hiding the
processes behind the scenes in a museum we are publishing only the
last chapter of a book-the conlcusions. There are a lot of books around
that tell readers about the processes of coming to a conclusion so why
shouldn't museums. I have definitely seen research somewhere-a long
time ago-that showed that visitors would like to know how exhibiions are
developed-I will hunt it down if possible.

Kathryn