Regarding research fees...
Our museum has begun to consider charging after the first half hour of
assistance.  However, to determine how much help we could offer in 30
minutes, we wrote up a worksheet.  Since most people come in looking for
ancestors, we have a "people finding worksheet."  On the front is a list of
the most common references we use, with checkboxes that we can tick off.  On
the back are names and contact info for other intstitutions and their types
of resources.  We write in the visitor's name and question on the front.
This past summer we got two checks in the mail, one for $50, another for
$100 as donations to the museum for our help.  Walk-ins often dropped money
in the donation box.  Even for people we could not help, being given the
checklist made them feel like we'd done our best, and let them know where
we'd already looked.  We're holding off asking for fees right now.  When
people ask how much it costs, we tell them it's free at the moment, but they
are welcome to put something in the donation box.  Other institutions might
have a greater demand or more complex requests, but we were very heartened
to see how generous folks can be.  A rare real-life example of my little
utopian fantasy...

Best wishes,
Ellen Carrlee
Curator of Collections and Exhibits
Juneau-Douglas City Museum

=========================================================
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).