At 01:50 PM 10/11/96 +0200, you wrote:
>
>What do you consider are your top three general topics?
>Have you or your museum done any market research on traveling exhibit
>topics?
>What criteria have you used in the past when choosing a topic?
>
>I am involved in putting together various plans for Science Projects'
"Exploring Science" series of exhibitions. In chosing a topic I have looked
at various criteria. Would anyone want to borrow it? ( checked by  phoning
around potential venues), does it have any connection to the school National
Curriculum? is there/ has there been a similar exhibition touring? Does it
suggest a sensible number of interesting, potentially portable interactives?
Is there a grant I can get to fund it? These can have different emphases
depending on circumstances. Our two existing "Exploring Science" tourers
"Senses" and "Risk" reflect this. Senses was heavily influenced by the first
four criteria and got funding from the government's Office of Science and
Technology, but Risk was heavily influenced by the final one - the
Rutherford Trust offered a one-off grant for PUS activities on "Risk" and
this suggested an exhibition idea which we followed up - and jolly good it
is too! i have just had it at INSPIRE for its debut showing and it has gone
down very well! Without the grant being offered we wouldn't have thought of
the exhibition, but it stimulated some excellent results.
IAN SIMMONS

- A mind stretched by new ideas never returns to the same shape

                                        - RALPH WALDO EMERSON