>From time to time there are worthwhile discussions on this list relative to
professional standards and training in the museum world. I thought that
this post, from the H-Local list, might be of interest to those that argue
against the need for a "core" knowledge of museum practices and
professional standards. Pretty soon we may have surgeons who trained as
garment cutters. Truth is stranger than fiction, and if this one comes to
pass the discussions over the Enola Gay issue may be relegated to minutia:
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"Selection of U.S. Archivist
    --There seems to be renewed commitment at the White House
    Personnel Office for the task of selecting a nominee for U.S.
    Archivist.  It appears that the leading candidate is a former
    Democratic governor of Kansas, John Carlin, who holds a B.S.
    degree is dairy science.  Dr. Trudy Huskamp Peterson will soon be
    completing her second full year as Acting Archivist; and several
    earlier attempts to fill the position stalled for various
    reasons.  During the last two months the Administration has
    considered several other possibilities for this position and
    interviewed in addition to Carlin, Raymond W. Smock, former
    Historian of the House of Representatives, and Nicholas C.
    Burckel, assistant dean for collections and services at the
    Washington University Libraries in St. Louis.  There is
    considerable concern in the historical and archival communities
    about Carlin's lack of professional qualifications.  The law
    specifies that the U.S. Archivist should be a non-partisan
    professional."
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Byron A. Johnson, Exec. Dir.
The Tampa Bay History Center
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]