My institution is currently in the planning stages of a major new exhibit and educational programs on the garment industry and a topic has come up that many of the people on our planning committee have little experience with. The idea was put forth to use robotic, lifelike manekins to give pre-recorded speeches and answer pre-canned answers to visitor's questions. This issue has created an amiable divide between planners. Everyone seems to have strong opinions on both sides. I myself am against them for reasons having to do with repair costs, regular mainentance burdens, dependence on usually unreliable outside repair people, questionable educational value, and , to put it blunly, I have always found the things to look dorky even when viewing the top of the line models brought to AAM and other conference's vendor shows. None of us on the committee have any real experience with Manekins and are arguing with our feelings on this issue. Could you help supply some answers? Does anyone on the list have any experience with these things? How much do they cost to keep up? What is turn around time on repairs when they go down, and they will go down. Has anyone here worked with Dorfman (I think that is the name), the company we will probably go with and a regular at conferences. Are they reliable? Does anyone have any information, either controled study or anecdotal, that speaks to the educational value of manekins? Does anyone learn anything from them? I would like everyone's opinion, whether exhibit designer, curator, educator, building or physical plant personnel, or just regular museum goer. Sales professionals from companies who supply this type of equipment are strongly encouraged to reply, but please represent yourself as such. If you agree with me, please give me substantial ammunition to use. If you disagree with me, please convince me I am wrong. Please reply via private email unless you feel this would be a fruitful area of public discussion. When replying, please let me know if I can use your name as a reference and/or if you are available to give further "testimony" for our committee. Than you in advance for any enlightenment on this issue. Matthew A. White Director of Education Baltimore Museum of Industry 1415 Key Highway Baltimore, MD 21230 (410)727-4808 [log in to unmask]