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
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