I'm going to throw one more idea into the discussion here and that is to suggest that if you don't have an audience of some kind you don't have a museum. This is not original with me, but was planted in me in my formative years as a museum professional by a colleague, who, when asked in one of his museum studies classes (at Texas Tech) "what is the most important thing in a museum?" his answer was "the person who walks in the door". I would argue that as important as preservation is, use is equally important, whether that be study or exhibition. BTW I have no problem whatsoever pish-poshing Gene, but of course I've seen the inside of his closet. janice Janice Klein Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Kendall College [log in to unmask] www.mitchellmuseum.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).