ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

ACM's Hand to Hand spring 2008 issue was focused on the theme of 
cleanliness and safety in children's museums. In an article about the 2007 Reach 
Advisors Survey of children's museums (5,459 responses), Susie Wilkining, Reach 
senior consultant, commented on Gen-X parents' attitudes towards cleanliness, 
"If...kids get sick after a museum visit, no matter where else a child 
might have been, [parents] tend to blame the museum."

The hand stamp question seems directly related to the hand sanitizer one. 
About hand sanitizers, Wilkening summed up the survey data by saying, "If I 
were running a children's museum, I'd have [hand sanitizers.] Whether or not 
they work, or whether or not kids use them, they give visitors the 
perception that the museum cares about their well-being."

From a visitor services point of view—not a scientific one—for folks who 
are highly sensitized to the flu issue, offering a "non-touching" option for 
stamping/banding/stickering museum visitors seems like a good diea.

Mary Maher
Editor
Hand to Hand

***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]