>>>From: Christopher Dill [mailto:[log in to unmask]] While it is only a personal opinion, I don't think that collections areas tours are, generally, good for the artifacts or very instructive to the visitor since there is relatively little interpretation possible.<<< I have to disagree with this (ok, my personal opinion). One of the things we address in collection tours is "why do you have so many?" We discuss statistical samples; the difference between, say, books (all copies the same) and organisms (every one unique); Gallup and other kinds of polls (different age, gender, socioeconomic/geographic classes). I feel it's very important to educate the public about this, because it is a basic issue to "why do you want to collect/kill more animals?" In addition to that, the vast majority of the public don't even know that specimens are kept for research purposes--they think either that all the material is on exhibit or that whatever's not on exhibit is merely "spare" material for replacing what's on exhibit. Time and time again people walk away from a tour with a new wonder and understanding of what a (natural history) museum is all about. I think this is crucial to our survival in this time of budget crunches. We need to make the public aware of *all* the ways museums are important, and behind-the-scenes tours are a valuable tool for accomplishing this. Robin Robin K Panza [log in to unmask] Collection Manager, Section of Birds ph: 412-622-3255 Carnegie Museum of Natural History fax: 412-622-8837 4400 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh PA 15213-4008 USA ========================================================= 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).