Contact the Collections Manager of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis (Indiana, USA), Robin Toulouse. They've pioneered the tiered system of "categorizing" collections based on useage levels. Robin's e-mail is: [log in to unmask] On Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:24:36 -0500, Jenny Yearous <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >The State Historical Society of North Dakota is about to consider >designating artifacts and specimens in its permanent and educational >collections into categories such as "Permanently Preserve - approved >research projects only" to "Touchy-Feelies" and things in between such as >loan objects; docent use, etc.... Does anyone do anything similar and, if >so, do you have procedures / policies? > >Most museums probably have a permanent collection and a "hands-on" >educational collection (SHSND's is uncataloged and not part of the "museum" >collections at all). Does anyone have written / standardized procedures or >polices to determine what potential acquisitions are accessioned into the >permanent collection as opposed to the educational collections???? Thanks. > >Len Thorson, Registrar >State Historical Society of North Dakota ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).