Greetings listers; I am interested in hearing from a wide variety of musuems that are addressing the issue of collecting from ethnic, immigrant and/or refugee communities. While I am aware of culturally specific museums, i.e. Swedish or Native peoples, I looking for information from general museums. Specifically I'd like to know if your collections policy reflects a distinction between the types of materials collected and from which communities. Has anyone made this kind of distinction in their collections policy? Are you actively collecting materials from and related to new ethnic, immigrant or refugee populations in your community? Do you have members of these communities on advisory committees? If you purchase collections, do you have a separate fund for ethnic or immigrant collections, or do you have a general fund for all collections? I would greatly appreciate any and all information related to this issue. Copies of collections policies are especially welcome. Please feel free to contact me via any of the addresses listed below or reply to the list if you think it is appropriate. Many thanks in advance, and I look forward lively discussion and useful information. Karen Karen Heege Folklife Programmer Iowa Arts Council 600 E. Locust St. Des Moines, IA 50319 [log in to unmask] voice: 515-281-6911 fax: 515-242-6498 CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE: http://www.culturalaffairs.org ========================================================= 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).