# Inappropriate museum/library behavior **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 23, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141 "2007-01-23T19:55:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141/61 "2007-01-26T23:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=ouryL] Parents who let their children bring in toys. ☹ [/QUOTE] I think this depends on the toy, honestly. Would you rather my daughter was in her stroller drawing on her Magnadoodle, or hollering to get out, or tearing around the museum? (Not that I would keep her in the museum at all in the latter two scenarios, but I think a well-chosen toy or two can be very considerate of the other museum-goers.) ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141/62 "2007-01-26T23:30:38Z")
[QUOTE=ENugent] I think this depends on the toy, honestly. Would you rather my daughter was in her stroller drawing on her Magnadoodle, or hollering to get out, or tearing around the museum? (Not that I would keep her in the museum at all in the latter two scenarios, but I think a well-chosen toy or two can be very considerate of the other museum-goers.) [/QUOTE] Quiet toys that don’t interfere with the other visitors = good as long as they don’t get tossed around. Noisy toys should be banished to the third circle of hell. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141/63 "2007-01-27T07:02:08Z")
[QUOTE=APB] Nor is this just because they think gloves merely unnecessary. No, it’s because their instincts are that wearing gloves does more damage. [And they’re right.](http://content.lib.utah.edu/ir_ml/image/8.pdf) [/QUOTE] I read over the article and I disagree with the author on a couple of points. > [@](#): > > Table and chair surfaces may have residues of cleaning and polishing solutions; My museum doesn’t use any such products. > [@](#): > > foam book cradles and their fabric covers become increasingly imbedded with dust and particles, such as red-rot shed from leather bindings; We don’t use fabric-covered or foam-padded book cradles. Ours are hard plastic or wood. The obvious reason why is that fabric can catch on delicate leather covers. > [@](#): > > and makeup, skin creams, and skin oil (sebum) can offset to a glove’s exterior with the scratch of a nose. Our archive employees keep an eye out for that sort of thing: if they see any dirt on the glove, they offer the researcher a new pair. > [@](#): > > Sebaceous glands, responsible for secreting sebum (skin oil), do not exist on the palms of the hands (Botek and Lookingbill 2001, 87, 94) so the direct transfer of sebum through normal collection handling is not a significant issue. I’m pretty puzzled by this. Okay, so maybe the palms don’t secrete oil, but the fingers certainly do. I, personally, have worked on artifacts which were damaged by fingerprints. The author doesn’t seem to acknowledge that such damage takes a long time to become apparent to the eye but it is there, nevertheless. Sure, a vigorous handwashing might do as well as cotton gloves (for a visit short in duration) but wouldn’t bare hands gather the chemical residue from the furniture and get makeup all over them when a nose was scratched just like was pointed out as being a flaw of glove-wearing? > [@](#): > > In fact, when was the last time you actually saw a fingerprint on a piece of paper? About two days ago, actually. > [@](#): > > Inadvertently gathering up two or three pages at once is common when the sensation of touch is impaired, resulting in clumsy fumbling to separate the leaves, or to turn a page, hampered by the awkward constraints of a ill-fitting cotton glove. I’ve never had problems with this, and I’ve never heard complaints from the archivists that the researchers have lost their manual dexterity due to a thin layer of cotton. Yes, it’s possible that ragged pages could catch on a glove, but they can also catch on a sleeve or a calloused finger. Lastly, I roll my eyes at the author’s notion that a “physical connection” with the artifacts is somehow more enriching and should be part of the experience. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141/64 "2007-01-27T20:19:11Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] I’m pretty puzzled by this. Okay, so maybe the palms don’t secrete oil, but the fingers certainly do. I, personally, have worked on artifacts which were damaged by fingerprints. The author doesn’t seem to acknowledge that such damage takes a long time to become apparent to the eye but it is there, nevertheless. [/quote] According to [this](http://www.besthealth.com/besthealth/bodyguide/reftext/html/skin_sys_fin.html), sebaceous glands exist by hair follicles, and not on the plams or soles of the feet. I would assume this includes fingertips since they aren’t hairy either. I agree with you though that fingers and gloves would both get oily and dirty from touching other things. No reason to think bare fingers would be any btter than gloves. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141/65 "2007-01-27T20:47:02Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] According to [this](http://www.besthealth.com/besthealth/bodyguide/reftext/html/skin_sys_fin.html), sebaceous glands exist by hair follicles, and not on the plams or soles of the feet. I would assume this includes fingertips since they aren’t hairy either. I agree with you though that fingers and gloves would both get oily and dirty from touching other things. No reason to think bare fingers would be any btter than gloves. [/QUOTE] Well, one way or another, fingertips and palms secrete _something_, otherwise, I wouldn’t be wiping the cases constantly. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141/66 "2007-01-27T21:21:55Z")
[QUOTE=ouryL] Did anyone add to the list: Parents who let their children bring in toys. ☹ [/QUOTE] Every time I see this I’m tempted to smash the toys with the hammer I bring along to museums to break off the dirty, dirty penises from nude statues. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141/67 "2007-01-28T03:04:18Z")
Kids who hang on the stansions (is that how you spell it?)-those polls that hold up the ropes to form our admission lines. Those things are extremely fucking heavy-I’m just waiting for one to topple over, and crack someone’s skull open. Kids who think that those roller sneakers entitle them to use the lobby as a skating rink. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141/68 "2007-01-28T03:16:30Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Well, one way or another, fingertips and palms secrete _something_, otherwise, I wouldn’t be wiping the cases constantly. [/QUOTE] [Fingerprint](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerprint) > [@](#): > > Fingerprints may be deposited in natural secretions from the eccrine glands present in friction ridge skin (secretions consisting primarily of water) or they may be made by ink or other contaminants transferred from the peaks of friction skin ridges to a relatively smooth surface such as a fingerprint card… [Development of Friction Skin (with Pix)](http://www.ridgesandfurrows.homestead.com/friction_skin.html) > [@](#): > > Eccrine sweat contains approximately 99% water and 1% solids. The solids are half inorganic salt (mostly sodium chloride) and organic compounds (amino acids, urea and peptides). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inappropriate-museum-library-behavior/389141.md?page=3)