I am not familiar with this term.  I will take a stab and assume you are
referring to small, portable exhibits which teachers or others may check
out of the museum and take home.  If so, you may want to contact Dan
Brinkmeier at the Harris Loan Extension at the Field Museum of Natural
History, Chicago.  (312-922-9410)  They've been doing this since the
1920s, if not longer.

On a tangentially related note, didn't Marcel Duchamp smuggle miniature
versions of his "greatest hits" across Nazi-occupied France in a valise,
while posing as a cheese salesman?  That latter piece may be an
embellishment, but I have seen such a valise at the Art Institute of
Chicago.

Eugene Dillenburg
Lead Developer, Philippines Coral Reef exhibit
John G. Shedd Aquarium
1200 South Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois  60605

V:      (312) 692-3136
F:      (312) 939-8001
e:      [log in to unmask]

Willow: Where were you?
Buffy: Uh, I was looking at the fishes.
Willow: Was it cool?
Buffy: It was fishes.