Introduction
Keynote Remarks:
      Diane Frankel

Fine Arts & Science
Art & Conservation
American History &
      Preservation
Library Sciences &
      Preservation
Archaeology,
      American History &
      Conservation Practice
Museum Practices &
      Conservation

DIANE  FRANKEL, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, served as the keynote speaker at NIC's annual meeting in October 1996. In her remarks, Frankel urged conservators to take an active role in museum programs and exhibitions, and to become involved in relationships between museums and schools. "It has become increasingly clear over the years that the work of the conservation lab cannot remain in the inner sanctum and completely hidden from view. . . . The time has come to . . . look for ways to integrate some of the basic principles of collections care into the educational programming that is taking place at nearly every museum."

What goes on in the conservation lab, Frankel continued, is of vital importance to the very essence of a museum's purpose: to preserve and protect our heritage. She equated conservation with the heart of an institution, with educational programs as its spirit. To unite the heart and the spirit, information on and exposure to collections care must be made available to the public.

In today's rapidly changing and technological world, what children should know and how they learn it constantly changes. Frankel stressed that museums must reach beyond a passive approach to education and learn to touch and influence these young people. They must engage visitors of all ages in hands-on programs and active experiences, letting the learner shape the learning. By making available multiple points of entry, such as non-sequential, self-motivated, sensory (sight, sound, and tactile), and experiential learning, museums can structure educational experiences and involve students in the care of collections. To best accomplish this, she advised, museum educators and directors should work with school curriculum coordinators and teachers to enhance and strengthen this natural alliance between institutions of learning and children. Conservators, in turn, should use these educational programs to raise awareness of the importance of their work. "In this way," Frankel concluded, "we will ultimately create new advocates for conservation and a new generation of constituents."