On Wed, 19 Feb 1997, Tom Vaughan wrote:

:| I think Rich'a query has to do with clothing and non-book objects,
:| but I'd like to interject that the books in the museum/park shop
:| should be used freely as reference materials. One can't expect the
:| staff to know everything that's in them, but it's a great resource for
:| answering questions and sharing the excitement of discovering answers.

And to turn this around a bit, how many museums make a point of
taking their gift shop staff on tours through the facility?  The
more the sales staff knows, the better they can relate the
merchandise in the store to specific exibits.

Of course, this gets us dangerously close to the notion that
different departments within the same museum should be freely
exchanging information on a regular basis.  And we all know where
that sort of thinking can lead to. :)

Rich Johnson
Director of Marketing
Cotton Expressions, Ltd.
Science, Science Humor & Nature Imprinted Apparel
http://www.cottonexpress.com