At 11:00 AM 04/14/2000 -0400, you wrote: >I disagree. I'm my mind, museums are any institution that supplies >information on topics through exhibition, example, and activities in order >to inform, educate, and entertain. This does not require a collection >merely imagination and ingenuity. To be a museum it certainly does require objects to inform. Who hasn't been bored with lots of graphics and text with little "stuff" to see? Perhaps the real issue with the Texas State History Museum is that the politicians who created it did not see the need for collecting. The TSHM is borrowing every object it displays from other institutions and private collectors. It takes a collecting museum or individual to make the TSHM a "real" museum that informs, educates and entertains. Yes, they are borrowing objects from this collecting Museum. It's yet another venue for our collections so I'm glad to lend to them. I can still be a little bitter at the politicians who are underwriting the IMAX but not the collections. Sally Sally Baulch-Rhoden Collections Manager Cultural History Division Texas Memorial Museum 512/232-5511, 512/471-4794 fax Science is a Cultural Construct ========================================================= 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).