How about expressing it in terms of "respect" - that is a touchstone word for a lot of curriculum efforts these days. Do you have some touchable collections or reproductions? If yes, you could say something like "Please show respect for the objects, and don't touch until you are invited to touch." That will keep out the tension of oh, great, I am never going to get to touch anything! I'd also suggest (depending on the age of the students this is presented to) an humorous icon. Perhaps a hand touching an object, the object is saying ouch! Or the hand touching the icon with the international "no" symbol (circle with the diagonal line) across it. That will help the visual learners! Of course, no matter what is in the presentation it will still need to be introduced and reinforced at the beginning of each tour. Cindy Boyer Director of Museums and Education The Landmark Society of Western New York Rochester, NY (585) 546-7029 x12 [log in to unmask] www.landmarksociety.org The Landmark Society of Western New York 1937-2007 - Serving for 70 years! Our mission is to discover, protect, and revitalize the architectural and related cultural heritage of the Rochester region, and to educate and inform our community about that heritage. ________________________________ From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lauren Lombardo Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 11:28 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Positive ways to say "Do not touch"? A simple "please keep your hands to yourself" could work. Lauren On 5/1/07, Laurel Spencer-Forsythe <[log in to unmask]> wrote: A group of educators working in collaboration with museum staff to develop curriculum materials objected to the negative approach to traditional museum rules like "don't touch" and "no running." While it was easy enough to put a positive spin on "no running" and turn it into "walk"-- we are having more trouble coming up with a positive way of communicating "don't touch" clearly in written form (this is in a PowerPoint presentation that serves as a field trip orientation). One teacher suggested stating the ways that touching damages works of art and artifacts, which is a method I've often seen used effectively, BUT we need a pretty basic directive not an explication of conservation theory..... The "museum rules" slide is the last slide after a pretty lengthy presentation (about 80 slides), so the message needs to be brief. Any great ideas out there you can share? Thanks! Laurel Spencer Forsythe Executive Director Ruthmere 302 E. Beardsley Ave. Elkhart, IN 46514 (574) 264-0330 www.ruthmere.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). ========================================================= 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). ========================================================= 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).