Dear Jose;- Of course you are an Educational institution. Most Museums are. What I was attempting (badly) to point out is that the Bailey-Mathews, being primarily an organization devoted to the under-represented creatures having no backbone, will do a high percentage of its educational mission through the medium of touch, look, and tell. The Chicago Museum of Natural History (the Field) has a tremendous number of specimens in its backrooms. It welcomes visitors there as well. But, when I was last there, there wasn't a single shell on display for the public. Here at The Cincinnati Museum, we have changed. When Ralph Dury was in charge we had a wonderful shell room open to the public. Ralph died. I'll never forgive him for that. The new man in charge kept the shells but removed them from display and featured his own passion- --birds. Now I like birds. They are delicious. But just to see the shells I have to slave away in the back room under the cold eye of our Collections Manager, Paula Work---who likes fossils. I don't know if you ever met Mr. Glancy. He lived in Central Indiana and had what he called his shell Museum in a barn separated from his house. Being 90 years old (for most of his life) he rode a tricycle from the house to the barn. He wasn't a stupid man. He had been a school superintendent; and he had developed some new strains of popcorn. But his idea of "Museum" was---he had an example of every olive featured in the Ziegler book---GLUED to a big round piece of cardboard. He also had some 2000 tiger cowries mounted row on row like an army ready for battle. Speaking as a collector, writer, and flying pig expert, I like your idea of how to run a shell museum and how to present it. I'll get there. I'll get there. Art