Oh, yes.  Comment books are, almost always, a lightning rod for people with
nothing helpful to say, but with lots of colorful ways to say it.  It is a
forgone conclusion that there will be several crank entries, but that does
not devalue their use.  If possible, keep the book in an area where there is
someone posted.  If the room looks supervised at all, it is less likely to
be fooled with (not a guarantee!).  Crank comments and miss-informed entries
can actually spark interesting dialogue when people fill them out.

Granted, the crank/miss-informed entries can be fun, too.  When I was
working at the Grand Canyon, the rangers at the info desk kept a running
list of their all-time favorite odd entries.  "When do the deer turn into
elk?", "Why don't you have an escalator to the bottom?", "When do the Hopi
chase the buffalo through the Canyon?".  Definitely insightful!

Gavin Smith, Curator
Archaeology Department
Fort Hood Military Base

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

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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).