Like most museums, the greater part of our collection is in storage at any time
(in our case, more than 98%!).

This summer, we opened our collections and research facility to the public for
a total of six weekends. While we did NOT allow visitors into certain areas, we
did give them the chance to see all the larger artifacts and we created a small
exhibitions area to give them an idea of the collections that were not open to
the public. We charged a discount price and provided minimum services. The open
houses were quite popular and it seems clear that we will do the same thing
next year.

We conducted a visitor survey over the course of the open houses. I should have
the report in another week or so and would be glad to send a copy to anyone
interested in this kind of activity.


Harry Needham
Director, Programmes and Operations
Canadian War Museum