Howdy, y'all: We're trying to get a sense of how museums in the public trust arrive at policies that permit public access to some or all of the collections information accessible electronically. If you have a policy on public access to collections information that you'd be willing to share, or if you have behind-the-scenes information on the development of such policies, please feel free to respond to me offline. Copies of policies would also be useful (or directions to sites where policies have been posted for reference). I have a pretty good sense of the levels of information that are commonly restricted (donor information, collecting locality, etc.) but would like to know if anyone has had to deal with informal or formal legal challenges to such restrictions (based on FOIA, etc.). If so, how did that turn out? Have you had experience with an institutional policy that permitted freer public access than the collections staff thought appropriate? (or, vice versa, restricted access more than collections staff thought necessary?) If so, how was this difference resolved? If you host collections-based information sites for other groups (professional societies, etc.), have you come across problems when their access policies differed significantly from yours? If so, how was that resolved? Please note that this is not a question about physical public access to collections (that comes later).....just about the electronic access to information housed in a public trust institution. Any and all suggestions for good resources will be gratefully received. Thanks for your time and consideration. Cheers, Sally Shelton