Subject: Re: University Museums IUd like to add some observations on acdemic museums, from my perspective as a student of higher education (Ed.D.) & practitioner in the field (dept. head in a university library). We have to face the essential fact that museums are perceived _by academic administrators_ as being as extnct/outdated as the fossils they often display. This is a function of economics and the academic status game. While a museum full of exotic materials was the 19th-century mark of arrival in the academic status game, it is worthless in the status game of late 20th century academics. In the 1870Us or 1880Us, a smart academic administrator would of course include the campus museum in a tour for a prospective donor. He [they would both be TheU] would proudly show Mr. I. Gotbucks the latest Egyptian mummy, mastodon tusk, or some other artifact as evidence of the schoolUs prestige. And Mr. Gotbucks would give the school some money. Where does a contemporary administrator take the rich prospective donor on campus? To the museum? Probably not - too dusty, full of boring TstuffU. To the library? Maybe - especially if theyUre being prospected for a capital campaign for the library. To the computer center or lab? You bet your bippie. A little synthesized welcome speech mentioning the donor, some flashy graphics across the screen, and perhaps a smooth (not slick) video presentation showing how the university will have an even more wonderful computer center with a generous check from the Gotbucks Family Foundation - thatUs the ticket to the bank in the 1990Us. Academic museums have no champions in the budgetary turf wars consuming higher education. While I didnUt specifically address museums in my 1991 dissertation on the politics of academic budgeting, my general principles explain what happens. I viewed the dean of a school within a university as an entrepreneur with a product mix. S/he must design the product mix that maximizes his/her possible funding. Consequently, s/he must review every department & program in the school as either a cost or profit center. WhereUs the profit in a museum? ItUs probably the smallest unit in the college, it doesnUt generate lots of grant money or graduate assistants, its faculty lack the prestige on campus of other specialities [sorry, but attending AAM is not even AHA, much less AAAS, on the prestige meter], and it cannot be used to juggle the budget to increase appropriations [as, e.g., changing a classroom to a RlaboratoryS designation will increase the formula appropriation per square foot or contact hour or whatever other benchmark is used by a public funding agency]. The academic museum was an integral part of the curriculum when its collection and the libraryUs card catalog were the most interactive learning experiences on campus. Those days are gone - actually, that century is gone - and a critical need exists to redefine the academic museumUs mission. I donUt have any suggestions or alternatives, but I think itUs critical to understand the changing fiscal/political atmosphere in higher education to realize why support for academic museums is eroding. I personally think that museums with properly interpreted collections are an integral part of a liberal education, but IUm a history major. Actually, I think that exposure to collections is part of the multiple- intelligence approach to teaching/learning - but I donUt have any quick fix solutions. Any suggestions or alternatives? Fred R. Reenstjerna (expressing my personal opinion under Amendment I, USCCA) Research Librarian Douglas County Museum of History & Natural History Roseburg, Oregon 97470 - USA [log in to unmask] --