Lynda Kelly writes:
>          I do think that lots of people fall into the trade by
>          accident! I know that I and many others here certainly did!
>          But the point I think is this:
>          Should we be training people for vocations where there are
>          limited job opportunities? (I guess this applies to many
>          more professions other than Museums)
It's a worry to be training students for jobs that one suspects don't exist
(though you're right that this isn't the only such field!)
Two comments: over the past few years, I reckon a good 75% of our graduates
have found heritage/museum jobs; the difficulty has been moving on from the
very bottom of the ladder.  Guide or information officer jobs are now being
taken by people with degrees, but there's no career path that follows
directly from this vital (but lowly) job.  I heard from a graduate the
other day who'd been guiding at the NSW Art Gallery; when she wasn't even
asked to apply for a bookings officer job (a step up) - on the grounds that
she's already overqualified, she threw the whole thing in and has gone to
work as a framer.
Second, the program I teach in calls itself Cultural Heritage Management in
order to cover both museum work and heritage work - site management,
heritage agencies, etc  There's definitely a trend for people to move
inbetween the object/site divisions of heritage, and it certainly enlarges
job possibilities, at least at the bottom end.
 
>          I think there is a need for Museum Studies courses but for
>          people who actually work in the field - if there were none
>          of these types of courses available then people who
>          accidentally fell into the field may not be able to get some
>          sort of professional training or qualification that would
>          help consolidate and build on the work they are doing.
 
My experience of museum people in Canberra museums is that they aren't
interested in museum studies.  They've got their jobs, usually on account
of an academic or professional discipline, and few regard themselves as
part of a msueum profession, as opposed to being part of the community of
herpetologists or art historians or whatever.  The few who do connect
themselves personally with the museum scene are the ones who are active in
the professional association, Museums Australia.
 
The in-service training museum people seek is in management!
 
Helas!
 
Linda Young
Cultural Heritage Management
University of canberra
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