According to Gail Kana Anderson:
>
> I am interested if there is a trend in the use of the title Museum Registrar.
> The position now includes so many non-traditional responsibilities. I would
> like to know what other titles are being used. I had once been told that
> there was a trend towards the use of Curator of Collections for registrars.
>
 
I'm the Curator of Collections but not a registrar.  There is a
trend in that the title of registrar is used more frequently
now than in the past, but like the title 'collection manager'
it reflects a position in the museum field that has been
rapidly evolving over the last 10-15 years.  As such, a
position in an institution may have the title, but may or may
not reflect what the person actually does, or the profession
state that the person should be doing.
 
We did a survey a few years ago to evaluate 'collection-manager
type positions'.  Individuals with about 19-20 different formal
job titles responded and the majority described their duties as
more similar to 'collection manager' than either 'curator',
'registrar', or 'conservator'.  Out of the 46 institutions
represented in the survey with operating reveunes of more than
$750,000, 19 had registrars, 26 had collection managers, but
only 11 had both.
 
If you are looking into job titles, you might find the paper
that summarizes the results of that study interesting.
'Summary of a study to evaluate collection manager-type
positions', 1991, Collection forum, 7(2):72-94.  Of course that
was from data 5 years ago.... and it keeps changing!
 
--
Paisley S. Cato, Ph.D.                          e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Curator of Collections                          phone:  703-666-8634
Virginia Museum of Natural History              fax:    703-632-6487
1001 Douglas Ave., Martinsville, VA 24112