Fragments of everything you discuss pop up in all of our heads... but to see it all in one narrative is almost overwhelming, but thank you!
With BCN's 15th anniversary I've been mulling over the future of collecting as well.

And I also miss many of those who have moved on, perhaps selling off their collections or just losing interest. My interest has never waned, probably never will, but yes, I am wondering what to do with my excess...flea markets are no longer attracting "bead people" because the internet has become such an effective marketplace. We do a couple of flea markets a year. I have for over 30 years, matter of fact. And I notice most people who show up don't even have the attention span to look at items as small as beads. Those people are at home shopping on line now....

Bead societies across the country are generally becoming seed beading groups, bead bazaars are shrinking or folding...but the big world markets are still doing well. For us in the U.S., it's Tucson. That has become an informal global bead society....

I think I've passed on enough bead knowledge to our son to make sense of my pile whenever my body should decide it's had enough...he knows the important material, where it is and what it's worth, and that the only place to go with it is Tucson...

Museums? I'm not very optimistic about how they will handle bead collections...and am almost more in favor of bead collections being auctioned or sold to private collector individuals who will wear them, use them, re-sell them to collectors who appreciate them...rather than have them sit unappreciated in a museum store room, or sold out the back door...

And, despite our archaic software, BCN continues and will as long as possible. It is impossible to transfer it to any other forum software. It remains a wealth of information for anyone with the curiosity to search, either using the site search engine or Google. And Google images can take you to much BCN info as well. This week David is doing a full site backup. The first and smallest directory is in it's second day of backup. After it's all done, our current hard drive will be fried, and then David will replace it with the new one in the wings. This is an example of how your help in the fundraisers literally helps the site to stay on line!