For many biologists, natural history museum curators and their collections have become insignificant islands in science, separated from the larger body of scientific endeavor. Data from a survey of recent journals support this contention and emphasize the problem; a relatively small proportion of scientists makes use of collections and although some groups of researchers (most notably ecologists and parasitologists) make frequent field collections, little of this material is reported as deposited in permanently maintained collections. If natural history collections are to prosper and their adequate curation be assured, curators and collections managers must take an active role in communicating the value of their collections to the non-curatorial scientist. One approach, and a relatively low-cost one, is the preparation of a slide or video package on the role of collections in research. Such a package, with accompanying text, is currently being developed as a joint project of the Natural Science and Education departments of the New Brunswick Museum. -- AATA