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Re: LA Meteorite Exhibit
Hi, list:
I feel obligated to leap to the defense of museums with meteorite
collections!
First, please remember that presenting ANY exhibit to the public
involves a certain amount of staff time, staff effort, and expense. I
don't know the exact situation at the Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County, but at many institutions, having a one or two day
exhibit indicates that the objects exhibited are not owned by the museum
but are on loan only for that brief time. The museum may not have had
the option of a longer exhibit period (for example, about a year ago, we
did a moon rock exhibit for only two days because that was the longest
time we could have them). It's interesting to note that in the current
directory of the American Association of Museums, the Natural History
Museum of Los Angeles County does NOT list meteorites as a collection
topic. Perhaps they do indeed have the ones they exhibited in their
mineralogy collection, but perhaps those meteorites were simply on
temporary loan.
In addition, public exhibition is not the only function of a museum and
never has been. Other functions include preservation and research.
Meteorites might be held back from display because of research schedules
or friability, for instance. If one or two specimens of a particular
meteorite will suffice to fill the educational goal of an exhibit, and
the museum has ten, is it better to place all ten at risk of
deterioration or theft, or better to risk only two? Should all ten be
used if it makes a better looking exhibit? Might the audience's
attention be overwhelmed by ten specimens and better focused on one or
two? There is a lot more involved than just saying "put 'em all out."
As for the Smithsonian keeping meteorites off exhibit during remodeling,
it seems to me they did the right thing. Would you really want their
meteorites on display at the cost of seeing them rust or having some
stolen because they could not be properly exhibited? When our museum
moves to a new building in a couple of years, we will also take our
meteorites off exhibit to preserve them, because that's the responsible
thing to do.
We have a very small meteorite and tektite collection (a couple of dozen
specimens), and display them all because they have been carefully
selected for the exhibit's educational goals. Other museums have
tremendous collections, and displaying everything would take more
exhibit space than is available (I hope to be in that situation in a
couple of decades!). Few museums display nothing but meteorites, and
have to balance meteorite exhibit space with the space necessary for the
museum's other topics. Meanwhile the off-exhibit meteorites have to be
carefully preserved for the future.
Finally, I applaud all the list members that place images of their
meteorites on their pages. Some of their collections are simply
stunning. But yes, it IS arguable about whether this shows better
educational public spirit than museums (I think both ways are pretty
good, myself). However, only a relatively small percentage of the
public has the equipment needed to see those images. By contrast
(particularly in free museums like ours), anybody can see our meteorites
just for the effort of walking in the doors. And no museum's entry fee
remotely approaches the cost of the equipment necessary to visit those
web pages. Many of our visitors see and learn about meteorites for the
first time while they are here, but they came here to see something
else. How likely is it that Net surfers will see those meteorite images
if they are looking for information about some other topic?
Finally, take a look at those spectacular meteorite home pages. Now
reach into your computer, pick up one of the meteorites, and heft it.
Can't do it? You can at a lot of museums.
Sorry for the length of this, but I thought there were some museum
considerations being glossed over. And if you don't like the way your
local museum is exhibiting (or not exhibiting) its meteorites, then go
there often to look at them and send your friends. Write supportive
letters to the curators and the museum administration. Museums are very
interested in what their audiences like, and obvious enthusiasm for
meteorites on display will increase the odds that a facility will devote
the time, space, and money to an exhibit.
Dave Hostetter
Curator of the Planetarium
Lafayette (LA) Natural History Museum & Planetarium
Calvin Shipbaugh wrote:
>
> SpaceRocks@iname.com wrote:
> >
> >
> > On another note, this one day only dislay is precisely why I would not
> > want my collection to be donated to your typical museum. I would not
> > want my collection to be locked up most of the time. I would want it to
> > be available for appreciation by the public as much as possible.
> >----------
>
> You make an interesting observation. Many members of this list are to
> be commended for making an on-line gallery available to the public at
> virtually all times. This educational public spirit is arguably better
> than what many museums provide, with collections often unavailable to
> view in any form. Even the Smithsonian, which has done a tremendously
> good job of displaying meteorites for the public, had their exhibit
> closed to general observation for years during remodeling.
>
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