k, I feel the need to respond to the "Disneyland" comment :o)

I can only speak for where I work, but I think we do an excellent job of
getting through to our visitors with a mix of hands on activities,
interactives and exhibits and artifacts.  We have an interesting and
important story to tell at our facility and we do it best with what we have
at our disposal.  There arent' too many 16th century vessels still afloat so
we have a replica with costumed interpreters......as a compliment to that, we
DO have a 16th century cannon in our exhibit hall.  I could go on, but the
point is, we don't collect a lot of things because we don't have proper
storage facilities, proper conservation facilities, etc etc. to accomodate a
large collection.  Besides that, it's never been a part our mission to
"collect"  If this makes us less than a "real" museum, so be it.....but we're
not quite ready to install a log flume and roller coaster just yet :o)

Chris Woodson
Museum Technician (I use the term loosely I guess)
Roanoke Island Festival Park/Elizabeth II state historic site
Manteo, NC

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