What is sold in the shops has a definite connection with the messages
     presented by the institutions which house them.  There should be
     guidelines established between the institution and the shop before
     purchases are made.  Parks Canada has numerous outlets run by
     "Friends-of" groups which operate under such guidelines.
 
     No museum is immune to this problem.  A number of years ago, probably
     late 1980s, I found a price catalogue for North American Indian
     artifacts on sale in the bookstore of the Smithsonian Institution.  I
     would suspect, though I can't speak for them, that this was not part
     of the policy of the museum operation.  It is obviously a difficult
     job to keep an eye on all stock purchases.
 
     As far as the Titanic exhibit (there have been a couple now I think),
     we should all raise objections to this type of activity for exactly
     the same reason - it gives a very mixed message about archaeological
     research and the integrity of collections.  The Maritime Museum of the
     Atlantic here in Halifax, Nova Scotia, joined most of the major
     Maritime museums around the world in refusing to play host to the most
     recent exhibit.   A previous one (I think the one that came with
     pieces for sale) was hosted by a local shopping centre.  Somethings we
     can't control, but we should certainly not allow our cultural
     institutions to condone them.
 
     Rob Ferguson
     Parks Canada
     Halifax, NS
     These comments are my own and do not represent the institution for
     which I work.