Regarding Jessica's comment on Conservators, there's a need to draw a distinction between preservationist and conservationist. A preservationist wants things left alone..."in the dark" forever. There is a place for that. Conservationists, or more correctly, conservators must look at how to mitigate the inevitable loss of information as the objects are "used up" by people who want to study them. An example comomon in museums is the problem of how to light objects on display so that they can be viewed (used) by the public with the least amount of damage to the objects. Filters, dim lighting, etc. help to control the damaging effects but the objects are still going to deteriorate faster over time than in a more protected environment. The cost/benefit is what causes the friction between educators, researchers, collections folks and conservators. They all have different break even points...An educator may feel that an object that lasts 10 years and teaches 5,000 students is a valid use of an object. A researcher may feel that only qualified researchers with very defined purposes may have access to the object and that no amount of public access is defensable. And a few conservators may wish that the access to an object be even more limited in order to allow the object to last as long as humanly possible. _Richard Efthim, Naturalist Center _National Museum of Natural History _Washington, DC 20560 _(202)357-1503 fax:(202)786-2778 [log in to unmask]