Chris Taylor could not be more wrong. Contractions are a valid, fundamental part of the language. I know of no authority on "good writing" that would impose an outright ban. Indeed, all of the sources I consulted agree with Diane -- total avoidance leaves one's prose feeling stilted. I don't believe the purpose of exhibit labels is to impress our visitors with our command of the language. But if it were, then adherence to an unsupportable superstition would actually be evidence that we did NOT know how to write. (What's next: banning terminal prepositions and split infinitives? Fie!) The first rule is: know thy audience. On which, more below. The second: clarity above all else. The third rule, as Diane rightly notes, is to write your labels so they may be read aloud. All the great label writers say this. Indeed, the last step in label writing should be a gut-check: read it out loud, and see if you trip over anything. And contractions are a vital part of natural speech. "Always" may have been a bit extreme. But I will not amend it to anything less than "always when it sounds natural -- and re-read your labels to find as many 'natural' occassions as possible." Whenever I've studied a foreign language, I've always found contractions to be helpful shortcuts. I acknowledge that I may be atypical. One of my fondest rules of thumb runs: If you try to be all things to all people, you'll end up being nothing to no one. If we rewrite a label to make it slightly easier for one person, but end up making it slightly more difficult for 20 others, what have we accomplished? If an exhibit is specifically for an ESL audience, then yes, one ought to follow ESL guidelines. I suspect this is fairly rare. More common is the exhibit for a general audience which may attract a substantial minority with special needs. We must expend the effort to address those needs, without sacrificing the mainstream. Bilingual labels, special tours, pamphlets -- there are many ways to offer an equivalent experience. (I may be out of step with the rest of society, but when I travel internationally, it never occurs to me that my host country should abandon their cuture.) -- Eugene Dillenburg Exhibit Developer / Writer / Smart-Ass Science Museum of Minnesota ========================================================= 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).