It is a great privilege and honor for me to be the eleventh Director (and the second Charles K. Williams II Director) of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. It is a particular pleasure to succeed Bob Dyson and to be able to acknowledge all that he has accomplisher these past dozen years.
In looking over all the great assets of the Museum during my first months on the job, it has become clear to me that one of its most significant treasures is its journal, Expedition. The Museum is justly proud of Expedition and the great strides it has taken under the editorship of Dr. Lee Home. But she and I know that Expedition cannot rest on its laurels and must continue to develop.
There are a number of models from which we could glean ideas as to new directions for our journal. as museum magazines come in a wide variety of formats and have vastly different contents. Some focus entirely on their museums, while others are more general in content and can sometimes be like academic journals. Most, though, fall somewhere between these two poles. Expedition currently is positioned in this middle ground, and we intend to keep it there. However, we do intend to institute sonic changes, which readers will see in forthcoming issues, that we hope will allow Expedition to more directly serve the interests and needs of Museum members. For example we plan to include more information about new exhibits and publications, as well as dates and descriptions of future Museum events. We also will further emphasize thematic issues, with themes that particularly relate to important Museum exhibits or research. In addition, we will sometimes include reviews of new exhibits or catalogs in other museums that we think might be of use and relevance to our readership.
Although we occasionally receive feedback from our staff and active members about Expedition, we welcome comments from our readers, especially in regard to suggestions for changes or additions to Expedition’s current format and features. Please write directly to either Dr. Home or me with your recommendations.
Our addresses are:
Dr. Lee Home or Dr. Jeremy A. Sabloff University of Pennsylvania Museum 33rd and Spruce Streets Philadelphia, PA 19104-6324.
While we obviously cannot implement all the suggestions we receive, we promise to seriously consider your comments in the coming months. Dr. Home also plans to be back on schedule with Expedition by Volume 37, Number 1, which should be printed in April 1995, in time for the openings of the Museum’s new American Southwest Gallery.