I'm kind of sceptical anymore about pointing out
misinformation...I've helped some smaller museums and
historical societies around Dayton with correcting
captions on some of their military displays, and they
were thankful for the info, but when I  sent a letter
to the Air Force Museum I didn't even rate a "Thanks,
we'll take a look"...for me, seeing obvious forgeries,
and mis-identified objects destroys the credibility of
the institution..it's like watching "Hogan's
Heroes"...the little details drive you crazy. That's
one of the reasons I stopped volunteering for the
Holocaust tour there...in spite of having more than 30
years experience as a WWII collector/historian, having
contributed to a WWII encyclopedia and several
collectors books, and served as a tour guide on
several European battlefields, it's as if your input
is worthless unless you're part of the museum staff.

So, I guess we're obligated to fix what we can, but
don't hold your breath! 

Just my two Pfennigs worth....

Mark sends 

--- Rachel Foster <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I believe you should contact the institution.  In
> our case we have had
> several non-professional staff members prior to the
> current staff, and
> due to the volume of information out there it is
> difficult to catch all
> of the mistakes that exist.  Though the current
> staff has worked hard to
> change the blatant misinformation, we still have
> visitors point out
> mistakes every now and then and we are thankful for
> that.  I'm not sure
> what you have to lose if you do tell them.  They may
> disagree, explain,
> or change it.  In any case they will be aware of the
> problem.
> 
>  
> 
> Rachel Barnett
> 
> Collections Assistant
> 
> Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
> 
>  
> 
> ________________________________
> 
> From: Museum discussion list
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Emily Spallina
> Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 10:20 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] What to do when an exhibit seems
> to have false
> information
> 
>  
> 
> I recently came across an exhibition that has the
> narrative online and
> looking at that narrative it seems to be filled with
> incorrect
> information. Although it could be a problem with
> wording, the
> misinformation perpetuates damaging stereotypes to a
> particular group of
> people. I am not going to put the URL for the
> exhibit on here , but if
> you want it you can email me off the list at
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> My question is what do you do when you find this
> situation? Do you
> contact the museum to let them know how the exhibit
> is coming across? Do
> you request more information to try and figure out
> why they would put up
> what seems to be blatantly incorrect information? 
> 
> -- 
> Emily Spallina
> Registrar
> The Arkell Museum at Canajoharie
> 518-673-2314
>
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Mark Conrad

"Poor is the nation that has no Heroes...
shameful is the one having them that forgets."

The Miami Valley Military History Museum
www.donet.com/~mconrad/mvmhm.htm


 
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