Some children's museums have extensive collections and others have none at all. Yet we all call ourselves museums. In our PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES document, The Association of Youth Museums defines it this way: ..a children's museum is defined as an instititution committed to serving the needs and interests of children by providing exhibits and programs that stimulate curiosity and motivate learning. Children's museums are organized and permanent non-profit institutions essentially educational in purpose, with professional staff, which utilize objects, and are open to the public on some regular schedule. It goes on to say: The children's museum field recognizes the following definitions of types of collections adopted by the AAM Accrediation Commission: Educational Collections: SUpport the mission of the museum and are held for public use in exhibitions and public programs Permanent Collections: have intrinsic value to art, history, science or culture; and are held and curated on a permanent basis Research Collections: are held for comparitive study and study purposes The PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES document continues by defining OBJECT: As defined for children's museums, objects primarily serve as tools to motivate learning and address the developmental needs of children. They are instruments for carrying out the children's museum's educational objectives, and reflect these purposes. The mode of presentation is substantially interactive and contextual. Objects may not necessarily have intrinsic value to science, history, art or culture, and can include constructed activity pieces and exhibit components. **I know this is specifically for children's museums but I thought some of these definitions might be helpful. Jeanne Finan