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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Yikes! I just had a double decaf americano, so let's see here...
As for not remembering to include the Smithsonian Museums in my
assessment, I stand corrected. Reading back over my post, it did
sound more black-and-white than I meant - apologies.
My comment was a direct statement towards the words of Watson as
stated in the article, meant to point out that his comments were not
comparing apples to apples. In my mind, I was pointing out that
"museums" tend to have "collections", and I suspect he was therefore
leaving science centers out of his catalog. I also suspect he was
leaving Natural History and Science and Technology museums out of his
catalog (I was not).
I could be way off on what Watson was talking about, so please take
my assumptions about his statement with a pile of NaCl.
As you can imagine, this (the assumed statement) was off-putting to a
science center professional (me), and to someone who has just spent
two years studying public perceptions and expectations of such
centers based on these perceptions (me again). The tightwalk
performed by educators in such institutions (me, going on ten years)
and the expectations of patrons is a precarious one indeed, and types
of assessments that are possible to provide measurable results
generally requires the impossible. This is of course an issue faced
by all museum professionals in every discipline.
I also wanted to respectfully make it clear that I am a proponent of
museums of all types, studied art history in college, appreciate the
very dynamic way that history shapes, well, everything, and am
fascinated by things like the psychology and significance of color
(is the canvas dripping with blue? a sure sign of a wealthy patron,
and etc.), love going to the local history museums and checking out
collections as well as traveling exhibits, and make museums a
priority when I am on a trip. Tiny museums about teacups and Pez
dispensers? Bring 'em on. Museums that challenge the idea of the
museum (Museum of Jurassic Technology) - awesome. I'm afraid that I
don't agree with Jason on being so jazzed about the Creation Museum,
but I believe strongly enough in the influence of museums to pay
close attention, and it sounds like he does, too.
It behooves everyone to learn as much as they can about art, history,
and yes, science, (not to mention teacups and Pez dispensers) as all
are interconnected, and all are relevant to our daily lives. After
participating in this thread, it is my personal wish that museum
professionals from different types of institutions could collaborate
more than they do, sharing best practices to make everyone's
experience that much better (Matthew names a wonderful example with
the Invention at Play collaboration).
Museums are not stuffy and boring. Is there a public perception that
they are? Absolutely. At least until you get people through the
door. As mentioned, a lot of that has to do with assumptions based
on semantics. All museums are doing whatever they can to decrease
that perception and to become more dynamic than ever before, all
while maintaining important artifacts and scholarship. Cheers, all
around.
Respectfully genuflecting from my small, smoldering box,
Julia
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