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in the long term for their continued preservation, and the Natural History museums are in danger of being swamped by them if they are transferred to them without adequate resources being made available. Dr Des Griffin (Australian Museum) tackled the controversial issues of 'Who owns the collections?' and Professors Gary Carnegie and Peter Wolnizer (also from Australia) provided a succinct exposition of 'Enabling Accountability in Museums' (both to be published in this Journal). Thereafter, the sessions turned to the more narrowly- based aspects of the physical care and management of collections and the particular problems being experienced in Eastern Europe, Cuba (Dr Gilberto De Silva's paper is published in this issue), Korea, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Mexico, while approaches to the 'International Financing and Valuation of Natural History Museums' were covered by Dr Nell Chalmers (Natural History Museum, London), Dr Terry Little (ICCROM and the PREMA Project) and Dr William Vartorella (strategic philanthropy--published in this issue). The concluding morning of the Conference focussed instead on international cooperation, including the role of ICOM (Chris Hill), the World Council Collections Resources, and the way forward.

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Museums & Heritage Show 1997

A series of successful museum trade fairs, and associated seminars and professional workshops, mounted in London, has been organised on a commercial basis by The Museums & Heritage Show Ltd. since their inception in 1992, and the 1996 Museums & Heritage Show was no exception. With 119 exhibitors and a 15% increase in visitors over 1995, this is now thc largest ismseum-related trade fair in the United Kingdom and in the English-speaking world second only to that accompanying the annual meetings of the American Association of Museums. It is organised in association with AIM (the Association of Independent Museums) and the Museums Association chose the 1996 Show as the venue for the launch of its new periodical, Museum Practice, backed by its first Museum Practice Seminar--devoted to storage--and two workshops on 'Copyright Law' and 'Funding Sources'. Verx sensibly, the timing of thc Show was altered to 27-28 March 1996 so that museum and heritage attraction managers could attend with a clear conscience before Easter and the beginning of the 1996 season, and this arrangement is to bc retained for the 1997 Museums & Heritage Show which is scheduled to take place at the Horticultural Halls, London, 25-26 March. Once again, a programme of professional seminars will be offered, involving the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), SIBH (Society for the Interpretation of British Heritage), AIM, the Museums Association and the Museums Trading and Publishing Group, while the 'Card Interactive' promises to combine light refreshments with advanced multi-media interactive display technology.

For more information contact Joanna Brown at Museums & Heritage Show Ltd, The Town House, Leigh, Worcester WR6 5LA, UK (Tel: 01886-833505; Fax: 01886-833144).

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