At 01:06 PM 11/11/96 -0600, "Eugene W. Dillenburg"
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wrote:

>Thus (at long last) my question: should museums attempt to explain their
>inner workings to an apparently disinterested public?  Does our audience
>have the "right" to know what goes on behind the scenes?  A "need" to know?
>A desire to know?  Have other museums tackled these issues before?  Has any
>museum attempted this sort of self-explanation in exhibits or programs; and
>if so, what were the results?

The Norfolk Museum of Rural Life, at Gressinghall (UK) has a room with a
'how and why we do it' case - when I was there last there was a display
on 'why document?'.

Conservators are particularly good at setting up displays on their work
- I've seen ones on the use of x-rays, restoration vs conservation and
various others.  There is an award in the UK for the best
interpretation/presentation of conservation techniques.

At Bucks County Museum we have an 'InfoRoom', staffed by a Keeper (Tues-
Sat) to enable our visitors to make better use of the unseen resources
of the museum (including the Keepers).  My experience of working here,
and with our volunteers leads me to believe that the public is indeed
interested in the 'behind the scenes' activities - and partially because
they want to replicate what we do with their own objects.


--
Pat Reynolds
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