Harassing Museums (Was: coelurosaurs and phylogeny type stuff)

[Mike Taylor <mike@tecc.co.uk>]

> Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 13:36:41 -0700
> From: Nick Longrich <longrich@alumni.princeton.edu>
> 
> Harass the nearest museum until they let you start looking at real
> specimens; nothing beats seeing real bone to understand the
> difficulty and ambiguity of phylogenetics.

Well and good.  I've heard this enough times to believe it
wholeheartedly.  My question is this.  Does anyone have any idea how
to go about harassing museums effectively and -- ideally --
non-offensively?

I'm fairly close to the NHM in London, so in theory I should be in
range of a stanggering collection.  But I don't have the beginnings of
a clue how to get past the public galleries.  (And at nine quid a
throw, the public galleries ain't cheap either!)  Who should I
contact?  What should I say?  How can I prevent them from laughing in
my face?  Bearing in mind that I am a rank, rank amateur with no
academic affiliation or anything.

Many thanks for any tips!

 _/|_    _______________________________________________________________
/o ) \/  Mike Taylor   <mike@miketaylor.org.uk>   www.miketaylor.org.uk
)_v__/\  "Klingon function calls do not have 'parameters' - they have
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         Programming Mantra