I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia, studying the history of museums. I have been 'monitoring' the museum-l list for a few months now but this is the first time I have chosen to add to the discussion. I just wanted to comment on the discussion of user fees for libraries and archives, a concept that I and a number of my colleagues have trying to defeat. I realize the American situation is somewhat different, but in Canada and in Britain, most (not all) museums, libraries and archives are public institutions, paid for out of our tax dollars. It is unethical and reprehensible to require people to pay for them yet again when they actually wish to use these institutions. Eileen Mak University of British Columbia [log in to unmask]