Blender 2.8, Controlling Collections in a Background Scene

Support Basics & Interface
1

As things were before 2.8, I could have a background scene in a scene. I would view objects in the background scene without being able to select them. I could also show/hide a whole layer and objects in that would control the visibility of objects in the background scene, collectively.

In Blender 2.8, it seems I cannot have similar functionality. I have no control of collections from the background scene. So I have to go to that background scene, prepare hide/show collections and then jump back into the scene I am working on. But that messes up the background visibility in other scenes that share the same background scene.

Any way to have similar functionality in 2.8?

2

Could you use a collection with selectability disabled to accomplish a similar effect?

3

Yes, I guess:
Link the whole collection to scene (link objects inside it, not new instances) then have them unsellectable.
Then I can use hide/show to view what I want on the basis of the collection.
I guess, though it seems messier, or maybe it just takes getting used to.