On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 18:47:35 -0500, Indigo Nights wrote: >Ok, dish, Gene! What was Ms. Janice doing in YOUR >closet? Why, cataloguing the skeletons, of course! Seriously, when Janice Klein weighs in on a subject, the matter comes pretty close to being settled. She brings the focus back to the audience, where it should have been all along. Re: Ugly Ties Nice! Another good site is www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/4026/ Re: Pish-Posh No offense taken. I've enjoyed the jousting! On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 18:47:35 -0500, David Haynes <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >OK, Eugene, by this definition the majority of university-associated >facilities that collect, identify, store, and make available to >researchers natural history specimens--jar after jar of dead turtles, for >instance--are not museums unless they have some of their stuff in a case >out in the hall. Am I reading your viewpoint correctly? Best. [yet >another] David H. Yes, that is precisely what I am saying. What you have described I would call a research institute. These are wonderful, vital, and -- dare I say -- important things. But unless they serve a public audience through exhibition, they are not museums. (A single institution can be both, of course. The Field Museum, where I and various of my co-conspirators once worked, had acres of public exhibits as well as scores of behind-the-scenes researchers.) I would go a step further. The exhibit program must be a significant part of the institution's efforts in order to qualify as a "museum." What is "sigificant"? Well, I suppose that's subjective. (As opposed to the rest of this discussion, which has been the absolute model of objectivity!) But I would apply a two-pronged test. The exhibits must A) be an attraction in and of themselves, and B) be intended for a broad, public audience. So an academic department, with display cases that are only seen by students or others allowed access to the building, is not a museum. A public building, such as a library, that has some exhibits filling in the dead spots is not a museum. A building, such as an airport, with displays in the waiting area to occupy people who came for some other purpose is not a museum. Now I hasten to add, all of these exhibits can be quite wonderful. I do not belittle them in the least. But they are incidental to the organizations' true functions. In order to be a museum, public exhibits must be your purpose -- or, at least, a major purpose -- for existing. -- Eugene Dillenburg "Pissing People Off Since 1960" ========================================================= 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).