the material can be damaging to a museum visitor if it is WRONG or
OUTDATED and so forth.  say youve got an exhibit on the bird-dinosaur
dilemma (som esay birds are dinosaurs, some say theyve a common
ancestor...).  taking too pointed a stance can be offensive and
misleading...also, and my word should be taken lightly as i am just
getting into museums, as i am interested in museum exhibit design and
content, could it be that the basic target audience can turn off people
who are beyond the education level of the material?  for example, my
beloved academy of  natural sciences in philadelphia still has the same
dusty stuffed animals behind glass.  there's a small plaque beside each
one...there can be more to this...so yes, i consider this damaging to
anyone looking to be educated.POINT IS: you dont see someone with a
notebook in a natural history museum, writing feverishly, like you do in
an art museum.
        thanks for letting me sound off, i hope this was helpful.
ej karetny