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Re:No Battle Intended


Elton, Bill, The List,

I am currently in a state of concern for attitudes in this arena 
both private and institution. On the one hand the private community 
seems to think that the institutions are holding out, or are just not 
cooperating. On the other, Institutions hold the private sector in 
contempt for wanting pieces of distant places. It is this conundrum 
that my affectatious nature cannot rectify. 

I do not think collectors are wrong for collecting. I do not have any 
special interest myself in owning these rocks, but I can see the 
compelling reasons behind the endeavor. Let me try and bring the 
institution's point of view to the table. I am not trying to start any 
heated exchanges, rather I wish to give an alternate viewpoint.

Let me start by saying this is my interpretation, and mine alone. This 
is how I view the situation, and will accept responsibility for it. 
For 95% of geologists, astronomers, and museum curators, meteorites 
are nothing more than a curiosity. To them they have little meaning at 
all, and are just lumps of rocks from outside of earth. These rocks 
are studied by a few people, but they are far from the majority. Most 
institutions that have meteorites, have them because of gifts, 
because they are needed for display, or they have always been there. 
If an institution does not have a meteorite specialist on staff, then 
they are neglected. It only goes to reason that they would be the 
case, because the be the staff does not get funding to study them.

Meteorite displays do not provide information that a collector would 
like to see, because the majority of the population does not have a 
clue to what an LL3 is or a Eucrite Achondrite is. These terms do not 
educate people, and if you attempt to try and convey this message to 
them, they will loose interest. Rather the goal of any display in a 
museum is to provide quick facts that educate people, and maybe 
interest them enough to pursue more information on their own. I have 
worked in a few museums over the years, and designing a display must 
take into account, a notion of 'museum fatigue'. This is when the 
patron has seen more than he/she can process in a day. That is why the 
majority of the displays in a museum are vague. Just an aside.

As for the institutional handling of meteorites, it seems that some 
do neglect them. The reason for this, is that curation is a 
full time job. Usually the curators are responsible for a lot more 
than the meteorites. They have to keep track of all the fossil and 
mineral specimens, as well as any biological specimens that the 
museum may have. Ideally there would be one curator for each, but this 
does not always happen due to funding and cutbacks. So it becomes 
difficult to keep track of every nuance in the museum from day to day, 
as you may well understand.

With the above being said, I now just want to add my personal 
thoughts. I did not catch the joke in Elton's statment, and I 
apologize. But I wonder sometimes if people do not really feel this 
way towards the Institutional sector? It is understandable, as I am in 
an institution, and have been burned by other institutions. That I 
think falls to the individual you are dealing with. My point here is, 
yes there are differences, but if we can view the argument through 
others eyes, than we be better able to solve these differences with 
patience and understanding that will ultimately lead to a better 
environment for all.

Best Wishes,

Frank    

 



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