This article describes the National Park Service's (NPS) progress in an ongoing effort to develop museum collection significance criteria for its geology, paleontology, biology, archeology, ethnography/ethnology, history, and archival collections. The goal is to create sets of significance criteria that are practical, flexible, recognize the associative value of the NPS's collections, and provide continuity and context for the stewardship of collections over time. Effective significance criteria will increase the intellectual understanding of collections; inform and record collection acquisition and deaccession; and assist in management decisions related to collections. This is an immense undertaking complicated by differences among disciplines and a large geographic scope. The significance criteria effort requires agency support through a national staff coordinator and funding for the final development and implementation phases.

Places of Pain and Shame: Dealing with 'Difficult Heritage' is a challenging and thought-provoking book requiring the reader immediately to slow down and take notice. Learning curves and challenges of assumptions abound with each new case study for those not up-to-date on Timor-Leste's recent history or who never considered if the current residents of the upscale apartments in Australia's former Kew Asylum should better understand the site's history. The editors' professional affiliations (Logan from Deakin University, Melbourne, and Reeves from Monash University) give the book a different, perhaps more challenging, perspective and set of case studies than if it were conceived by an American or European editor. Despite the recent rise in "atrocity tourism, " it is doubtful many readers are familiar with, let alone past visitors to, all of the sites treated in this book. The abstract states "Places of Pain and Shame is a cross-cultural study of sites that represent painful and/or shameful episodes in a national or local community's history, and the ways that government agencies, heritage professionals and the communities themselves seek to remember, commemorate and conserve these casesor conversely, choose to forget them" (i). Structurally, the editors provide an insightful introduction to sixteen case studies presented in four parts: Massacre and Genocide Sites, Wartime Internment Sites, Civil and Political Prisons, and Places of Benevolent Internment. Each study includes footnotes and its own bibliography which in many cases is quite extensive. Including the editors, eighteen different scholars and professionals from six countries and a wide variety of backgrounds contributed to the book. The heritage sites addressed are a geographically diverse group spread among thirteen countries with the majority (five) in Australia. The editors note that the interest in interpreting and visiting sites of pain and shame is a departure from the view of heritage espoused a generation ago "when we were almost entirely concerned with protecting the great and beautiful creations of the past, reflections of the creative genius of humanity rather than the reversethe destructive and cruel side of history" (i). They ask why this shift has occurred and what it means for heritage professionals. While the book contains few absolutes, the introduction provides a few clues as to why people visit these sites including remembering, exploring personal pain, feeling collective shame, and possibly feeling comfort when misfortune befalls others or seeking entertainment in a world desensitized by the media. The reasons for establishing the sites vary ranging from keep

National Park Service curators share best practices fo r holiday decorat ing at histo ric house museums including protecti ng resources, philoso phy and research, and planning and logistics. Racine explores the issues of resou rce protection including winter weather, evening events , visitor flow, open display, moving objects, fire safety, refreshment policies, and museum pests. Using Hampton NHS as a case study, We idman outlines the importance of holiday displays being accurate to the time period, particular site , individual inhabitants, and locale. Museum staff should use primary, secondary, and inte rnet sources to research an appropriate holiday installation to support the institution's mission. This research and plans for holiday decorati ng should be documented in written files or a report. Using Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural NHS as a case study, Henson illustrates the importance of planning and communication fo r a successful holiday event. McKay, drawing on her experiences at Martin Van Buren NHS, descri bes a nuanced approach to bringi ng a popular holiday event in line with cu rato rial best practices.