I am preparing an outline of a paper I am writing about the inadequacy of statistics on Australian museums. I am interested in what happens in other countries, so I thought it would be useful to gather some information from members of this List. What statistics do US and Canadian museums maintain, are these published in annual reports and reported to government (State and Federal)? I am also interested in finding out whether there are uniform definitions of: 1. A visitor. If a visitor pays a fee and that person presumably would be counted, no matter the length of the visit, are non-paying guests, including media representatives, and members (friends of the museum and volunteers) also included? 2. What happens when entry is free or requires a fee, but entry to an exhibition requires an additional fee? Counted twice? 3. A child. Is the min and max age uniform? 4. A high school and/or college student. 5. A family, where some form of concession may apply. 6. A school group. 7. A coach group. 8. Special interest groups (SIGSs) 9. Senior citizens. With staff, have any classifications been standardised? Is there a distinction between professional staff and non-professional staff? What happens to volunteers? Is there a record of the number of hours of work undertaken by volunteers? If the museum holds exhibition openings and functions in the museum, are any separate statistics reported? Many thanks in anticipation. Desmond Kennard Principal Consultant Museums in the making HILL TOP, NSW In this case, I am enquiring in my capacity as President, Southern Highlands/Illawarra Chapter of Museums Australia - NSW Branch. ========================================================= 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).