National Building Museum

PurposeThe US educational system is on the cusp of transformational change. Signals that the current educational structure has been destabilized include rising dissatisfaction with the formal educational system and the proliferation of non‐traditional forms of primary education. In the coming era, museums will play a key role in the new educational landscape. A broad and shared understanding among policy makers, reformers and practitioners of the unique capabilities of museums will ensure that the new educational infrastructure takes full advantage of these strengths. This paper seeks to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides an overview of educational innovation in a broad cross section of US museums, citing selected examples.FindingsThere is an emerging consensus that whatever the new educational era looks like, it will focus on the development of a core set of skills. This paper reviews some ways in which museums are helping learners develop the core skills of critical thinking, synthesizing information, ability to innovate and think creatively, and collaboration. The USA needs to scale up the educational resources and skills provided by its museums via online access, better indexing of online resources, physically incorporating museums into schools and schools into museums, and making museums central points for teacher training. This will ensure museums can provide equitable access to their unique resources and fulfill their potential in the new educational landscape.Originality/valueBy applying the techniques of forecasting to the field of education, this paper provides glimpses of potential futures as seen in the vibrant innovations in education currently taking place outside traditional schools.

“The Public Vaults,” National Archives and Records Administration, Constitution Ave. between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20408. Permanent exhibition, opened Nov. 12, 2004. Day after Labor Day–March 31, 10–5:30, April–Friday before Memorial Day, 10–7; Memorial Day weekend–Labor Day, 10–9. Free. 9,000 sq. ft. Marvin Pinkert, project director; Christina Rudy Smith, head of exhibitions; Bruce Bustard, lead researcher; Ray Ruskin, in-house designer; Gallagher & Associates, exhibition designer. Democracy Starts Here (video); 11 mins. Internet: exhibition description, text, photographs, news and events, and membership information <http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/visit/public_vaults.html> (March 2, 2006). The short video at the entrance to “The Public Vaults” begins with a hushed sweep through the rotunda in which the nation's founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights) are again available for public viewing after a renovation completed in 2003. After a brief pan of this solemn space of marble columns and ceremonial splendor, the video changes tone. An up-tempo beat hastens the pulse, soundtrack to a rapidly changing pastiche of the less lofty stuff of archival collec-tions—a glimpse not only of more mundane documents and records but also of book carts, compact storage shelving, and rows of Hollinger boxes. No voiceover is required to make the point. The National Archives are much more than the charter documents, and this exhibition is an exploration of a dynamic process—the preservation of the past through its documents and the vigorous use of those public records. An eleven-minute introductory film, shown in the William G. McGowan Theater, elucidates this message: records ought never to grow stale; the power of documents lies in the uses to which we put them.

accumulated during these excursions.

A supplement to the treatment of Pitcairnia in Flora Neotropical Monographs 14(1) is provided. Descriptions and illustrations

An examination of a collection of fossil wood specimens from the Tertiary of Assam revealed the presence of three distinct kinds of wood. Two of the woods, referable to the family Dipterocarpacea, are described under the names Shoreoxylon evidens sp. nov. and Dipterocarpoxylon kalaicharparense sp. nov. The third is a Terminalia wood, very similar to one previously reported from the Cachar Hills by Prakash and Navale.

(1962). Paleo-Indian and Archaic Traditions. Plains Anthropologist: Vol. 7, No. 16, pp. 89-92.

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American AnthropologistVolume 55, Issue 2 p. 250-251 Free Access Arapaho Child Life and Its Cultural Background. Sister M. Inez Hilger John C. Ewers, John C. Ewers U. S. National Museum Washington, D.C.Search for more papers by this author John C. Ewers, John C. Ewers U. S. National Museum Washington, D.C.Search for more papers by this author First published: April‐June 1953 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1953.55.2.02a00160AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume55, Issue2April‐June 1953Pages 250-251 RelatedInformation