> I am reminded of my "Fourth Law of Museum Work": You can't save everything
>
> Not every piece of material culture can go into a museum or be preserved,
> and certainly not forever.  Choices -- and often difficult ones -- need to
> be made about what is kept.  And even once in museums choices need to be
> made about level of use ("total" preservation, exhibit, research,
> destructive analysis).  And those choices may change over time: what was
> once common may become rare and need more preservation and less use.
>

....leading to my long held contention that decision makers in
historical museums need to be futurists as well as historians.
Projecting the ramification of current trends into the future, we can
have some sense of what of our own time is likely to be important to
those working 25 to 50 or more years after us.  Having been lucky enough
to have worked at a museum with quite 'old' collections, many times I've
blessed (or occasionally cursed) the foresight of curators who were
working 20 - 60 years before me. Those working in newer museums may not
realize how quickly what they are working with will have that time
depth.

Of course we can't be right on all the time, thus the need to perhaps
over save a bit at the front end, then weed regularly and routinely, but
oh so carefully, perhaps 20 - 25 years out.  Of great frustration to me
are those who say, if our museum can't make use of it *now* we won't
take it.

And, as an additional thought to the non-collecting museum thread, I
believe that non-collecting history museums impoverish themselves.  Who
is taking responsibility for collecting the past of their area -anyone?
no one?  Do history museums have at least some obligation to collect in
their area of mission, as part of a greater obligation to preservation
of the nations cultural heritage?  Or has the 'me generation' come upon
museums as well as individuals?

Isn't it wonderful how rather simple questions can evolve into
philosophical threads?

Lucy Sperlin  (formerly L. Skjelstad)
Chico, CA

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