Draper, Steven GS11-1CD Museum Dir <[log in to unmask]> wrote in message ...> My problem is how do I get started? If your museum has worked with > travel trunks could you send information on your program. > Steven C. Draper Director 1st Cavalry Division Museum > ========================================================= From my experience years ago ... 1. Keep trunks (read 'boxes' as an alternative) light enough to be handled by docents, teachers etc. [We made sturdy but overly heavy plywood trunks for our coal mining kits at one museum I ran.] 2. Make trunks sturdy - in your case acquiring surplus US Army footlockers might be a ready-made answer. 3. Keep trunks small enough to fit in the mode of transport to be used. E.g. will it have to be moved in a passenger car? [I recall damaging my sedan trying to get a trunk into the back seat as it would not fit into the trunk.] 4. Attach a laminated chart inside trunk's lid showing how to repack the contents. 5. Consider ethafoam inserts with cut-outs for each item. A Cavalry spur for example would have a custom nook, and it would be obvious if it was missing. Ethafoam slabs can be layered. For accommodating large objects such as a helmet, ethafoam slabs, or sections of them, can be glued together. 6. If trunks are to be shipped by bus for example, have a secure lashing/locking system to prevent pilferage or having it burst open and spilling the contents. 7. Have an inventory of contents and do condition/inventory checks whenever it comes back to your museum. 8. It may be desirable to have a combination lock provided for the teacher to reduce pilferage. If so, consider buying all trunks combination locks with the same combination if possible. 9. Consider making duplicate trunks (identical in contents) to meet the demand and to serve as spares. 10. If including headgear the kids will try on, consider the problem of lice. 11. Teacher's guide, reference material, laminated photos, teacher's checklist, laminated masters of documents for photocopying (e.g. attestation papers that kids could fill out) should be at the top and visible as soon as the lid is opened. 12. And last, but maybe not least - consider where you will store the trunks when they are not on the road. -- Colin Macgregor Stevens Museum Curator Burnaby Village Museum 6501 Deer Lake Avenue Burnaby, BC, V5G 3T6, CANADA Phone: (604) 293-6500 FAX: (604) 293-6525 Business e-mail: [log in to unmask] Museum Webpage: http://www.burnabyparksrec.org/villagemuseum/villagemuseum.html ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ 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).