We have a docent who has been here for centuries (and that's not a gross
exaggeration..) and my predecessor says he always wanted the docent to wear
a uniform shirt that has the disclaimer from the movies on the back "Nothing
you hear in this tour has any bearing to actual people or events..."

Seriously-- what does one do with docents run amuck? Who have been with the
museum almost from its conception, have been giving tours longer than the
rest of the staff has been alive, ran the place for years and just don't
tell a single true story in their entire tour? Add to that, they are ancient
so telling them not to give tours or come in would kill them. And they've
been telling the stories for so long they are convinced they are true, even
when the writing on the wall says otherwise (when I point that out, I'm
informed the curators before me had no clue what they were talking about and
were allowed to put whatever they wanted on the walls) I know a tour review
program would have been the answer several decades ago, but this is well
past that stage... Any ideas?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mary Burke [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, February 23, 2001 7:42 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Proper term
>
>
> In a course for museum educators in the '80's in York Graeme
> Carter, who was
> head of interpretation at Beaulieu, called them lies. He said
> one of his
> jobs was "to listen in to guides' tours and stop them telling
> lies". He said
> that the guides in the historic house were the worst, always
> making up tales
> about ghosts - he thought for the titillation of the visitors.
>
> In "The Daughter of Time" Josephine Tey referred to them as
> "tonypandy" -
> you have to read the book to find out why!
>
> Mary Burke
> VPM
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
> http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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).
>

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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).