David, My first thought is to ask how you came to define a museum as a "place of leisure"? Some of us, I think, would say that a museum is potentially a center for research -- if set up to do that, and a center for education. Bill Hanable Westport Maritime Museum -----Original Message----- From: David Sharron <[log in to unmask]> Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tuesday, April 20, 1999 6:51 AM Subject: Research Center and Place of Leisure >Greetings everyone on this Tuesday morning, > >I am a history student writing a thesis on how museums attempt to >strike a balance between being a center of research and a place of >leisure especially when it involves archival materials (manuscripts, >letters, photographs, audio media, etc.). In exploring this subject, >and please understand that I am in the very early stages of this >work, it seems that publicly promoting one's institution as a >research center is secondary to its function as a place of leisure. > >If you could please enlighten me on how you approach this at your >institution and further direct me to some literature on this topic, I >would appreciate it tremendously. Also, any information on the >subject of archival materials in a museum setting would also be a >great help. > >You can write me personally at [log in to unmask] or if you >would like to discuss this on the list, I will be looking there too. > >Thanks again. Enjoy your week. > >David Sharron >Graduate Student >University of Windsor > >_______________________________________________________________ >Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com >