On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 14:39:03 -0700, (Marc Reeve)
wrote:

Otis Willie wrote:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/local...calnews/daily/
0828museum.html

"Maj. Gen. Charles Metcalf, the museum's director, said the number of
missing items has been reduced to 510 and that the required process for
removal of items from the museum's inventory "has been stringently
adhered to" since 2001."

Methinks Mr. Ferguson needs to be strung up by whatever body part he
holds most near and dear, and asked about the whereabouts of those 510
missing items. (Scott Ferguson, the former chief of collections, being
the prime suspect.)


This is the same problem which plagued NASM - curators making off with
donated items and in some cases selling them for their own profit.
The Army Aviation Museum also had a problem with people on the inside
ripping off donated items.

I have an issue with the service museums in general - they are always
begging for items to be donated because the services that own them are
often too short-sighted to retain items of historical value, the
museums are not well funded, and the museums themselves seem to have
problems with inventory control.

As for Smithsonian/NASM, that's another can of worms.

John Hairell )