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

Jonah,

I must agree with Mary.

A couple of things:

1) If visitors don't feel comfortable with a stamp, then some will  
refuse to come and you've eliminated your whole message of  
understanding science.  Mary says that it is better to veer on the  
side of making people comfortable so that they can receive the main  
messages we support.  You are either saying: educate the people (which  
if you have studies to support your understanding that you share with  
the public that might be good - but it's rarely if ever done), or that  
you would be willing to forsake getting your main messages to people  
who disagree with you.

2) What harmful pseudoscience are you supporting???  My understanding  
is that hand contact is a major contributor to much illness.  So yes,  
you are correct that most visitors will interact with exhibits that  
have been handled by others, so they have already exposed themselves  
to contaminants - but this may not be true for all science center  
visitors.  Many science centers have multiple Natural History exhibits  
that are hands off - perhaps the visitors are going to view those, in  
which case they could be against hand stamp contact for more valid  
reasons.

-William



You presume that
On Oct 15, 2009, at 9:50 AM, Jonah Cohen wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> See, now we're veering close to another border that I think is one to
> tread carefully around.
>
> Essentially, it's the one that says "We do things that won't actually
> protect visitors from the flu, we're willing to support potentially
> harmful pseudoscience about health, as long as we don't get blamed for
> anything. Better that than have deal with mistaken preconceptions."
>
> Just my opinion,
> Jonah Cohen
> Outreach & Public Programs Manager
> The Children's Museum
>
>
> "There's where I come from, where I'm going, and I am lost in  
> between."
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Informal Science Education Network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
>
> 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]

William Katzman
Program Leader
LIGO Science Education Center
[log in to unmask]
(225) 686-3134

***********************************************************************
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]