I find the recent discussion on "museums without collections" rather disturbing. The oft repeated comment on Museum-L that such trends or institutions are "evil" is highly inappropriate and most uncollegial to the many fine professionals and institutions who are working to the betterment of public education. Rather than taking such extreme positions, might we just take a broader, more humanistic and inclusive view of our museum profession? The museum as an institution is continuously evolving--many fine, collecting institutions which we consider museums today would have been inconceivable in the 1800s. If one goes back even farther into museum history, to the Mouseion of Alexandria, which many consider the first museum and the institution from which we have taken the word "museum", we would find the most basic function of a museum in operation: Education. The Mouseion had 4 resident scholars, each of whom was expected to deliver lectures to the public--at least one of whom represented a field without objects, mathematics. I think that this informal, public education is the most fundamental and most eloquent duty which we have inherited from this ancient tradition. Today, there are many ways in which informal education can take place--collecting and interpreting collections and through exhibitions (with or without objects). I prefer to take a broader view of the meaning of objects: Objects represent knowledge or the evidence of knowledge. If objects are taken out of context (i.e., looted) or otherwise have irretrievably lost their information, then they are worthless as "collections". But objects with associated knowledge are not only one way in which knowledge can be transmitted. Our evolving profession basically is seeing a more comprehensive view of the role of the exhibition as a medium for communication--and this is, I think, the underlying issue to many of the comments on Museum-L. But if one takes a broader view of "what is a museum" then maybe we can reach a more inclusive definition: Why not think of a "museum" as a family of non-profit organizations, whose main role is informal education through the collection and interpretation of collections or through the exhibition medium. No definition should be cast in bronze--ready to defend at all costs. But this type of suggested, working definition brings together seemingly disparate organizations--planetaria, historic houses, art museums, science centers, zoos, etc.--all of whom are working in one way or another towards the preservation and dissemination of knowledge to the general public through informal (i.e., non-classroom) environment. This way we respect the hard work of other like-minded professionals around the world, as well as honoring what the Mouseion of Alexandria was trying to accomplish. **************************************************** Dr. Linda Ellis Director, Museum Studies Program Professor, Dept. of Classics & Classical Archaeology San Francisco State University [log in to unmask] postal address: www.sfsu.edu/~museumst/ Museum Studies Program 415-338-1612 (office) College of Humanities 415-338-7030 (FAX) San Francisco State University 1600 Holloway Avenue San Francisco, CA 94132 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://museums.state.nm.us/nmmnh/museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).