Regarding behind-the-scenes tours: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum regularly conducts small-group guided tours of its facility in Suitland, MD where artifacts are stored, restored, and conserved. These tours seem painless to the staff, and I think the guests get a lot out of them -- the artifacts there seem almost more "real" to many people than the ones downtown, not least because they have the patina of age and its attendent mystery, and the visitors feel as if they're seeing long-hidden treasures. Most are also fascinated with the work that goes on there as well. Bottom line: Those tours are educational, not only about the objects in question, but about museum work. ........................ Doug Lantry University of Delaware [log in to unmask]