I am not working in this area, but would like to stick my neck out with an
opinion:

Surely the central purpose of a museum is not to reflect only today's ideas
of what is 'proper' but the changing of such ideas over time.  Such items
form a valuable record of this change and should not only be retained, but
can be displayed (suitably interpreted) for this purpose.  The changing of
displays over time to reflect contemporary knowledge and attitudes is
normal (but should be done with self awareness!) - the 'editing' of
collections is another matter intirely and would be immoral in itself.

Jackie Britton

At 07:31 AM 09-11-99 PST, Anne Doss wrote:
>I am a graduate student in Tufts Museum Studies program, doing a project on
>changing public perceptions and collections management/use. I want to know
>what a museum does with artifacts that, due to changing public ideas of what
>is "PC", moral, or proper, are no longer considered appropriate.  For
>example, a museum that has "mammy" or "Sambo" dolls, or a natural history
>museum that has ivory or tortoise shell.



NOTE NEW TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS

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Jackie Britton
Head of Collections Storage and Access
Science Museum, London SW7 2DD, UK

phone: 0207 942 4155         email: [log in to unmask]
Science Museum home page:  http://www.nmsi.ac.uk
Jackie's Architectural Pages:  http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4350
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