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I don't know if this would truly classify as a distinction between museums and science centers, but some of those older "museums" don't just collect, they also do research and publish.  All directly related to the subjects they cover.  We now see a great deal of publication in our world of Informal Learning but it is not quite the same.  I would love to know how many science centers, children's museums and other non-traditional museums are doing peer-reviewed and published scientific or historical research?  

I worry sometimes that we are getting much to self-referential and inwardly focused.  As several folks pointed out this discussion is splitting hairs amongst the very people who already have internalized the differences and is 99% meaningless to the general public.  

Erich Rose

Erich Rose Design
807 The Living End
Austin, TX 78746
512-626-9930; [log in to unmask]

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