What a marvelous thread!  The question of "who is the audience?" is
intriguing, since I have a suspicion most people think it's self-evident,
but many might not agree on what that self-evident answer is.  Do we
benefit the collections at the expense of the public, or the public at the
expense of the collections?  One obvious response (neither one) begs
the question.  Where do you strike the stewardly balance
between the "preserving and protecting" phrase and the "for the benefit
of" phrase?
 
In many institutions (including ours) there's a distinct and separate
teaching collection, whose value is measured by different standards than
the research and systematic collections.  No doubt about it, the teaching
collections are at much higher risk.  That also makes them ideal vehicles
for other kinds of teaching--like conservation and stabilization
techniques.
 
 
Alex Barker                              Curator of Archaeology
[log in to unmask]                  Dallas Museum of Natural History