"Leave it alone," I said to myself. "If you haven't already
learned that there is nothing in it but lumps for you, to tell
people what they would rather not hear, them you deserve them
(lumps). And you are not even a 'museum professional.'"
But - ever the rash and foolhardy idealist - here goes. Museum
workers call themselves "professionals" and want others to see
them thus as well. Better money is no small part of it. What
some of them may either not realize or not want to come to
grips with, is that one of the prices paid by occupational
groups society generally recognizes as "professional" and
rewards accordingly is "gatekeeping." Not just everyone can
call themselves an "xxx," hang out a shingle calling themselves
such, and go to work. Consider the medical speciality of
surgery (and there is constant tension between doctors and
nurses over just this): to be recognized as a basic doctor it
is necessary to go through a rigorous training program. To be a
surgeon requires yet more training, and an elaborate sequence
of hoops called "board certification." It is not enough to just
profess an interest in subcutaneous tissue.
There are lots of people working in hospitals - a very
concentrated and focused venue of medicine, just as a museum
(or at least a major one) is a such a venue for "museum." If
there is truly to be such a societally-recognised category as
"museum professional," there has to be something very simple
and readily comprehended by all, that separates, stratifies,
distinguishes, those who are from those who are not, even
though they all work in ther same venue. One side effect of
rigorous and systematic training has been the creation of and
reliance on a body of professional literature. NJM, JAMA, etc.,
report not merely "news," but also research. Anyone may read
them, some outsiders may actually understand them, but (it is
assumed) _doctors_ use them in their work. I certainly would
not entrust my bypass to someone who started work in a hospital
as a volunteer and gradually worked up to Chief of Thoracic
Surgery. Nor would I do so to someone who has another (more
important?) job, and just does surgery on the side.
As I said, I am not a museum professional. I don't even work in
one. (But Q-is there a sharp boundary between "museum" and some
other organizational types?) My doctorate is in social sciences,
where such social psychology issues as "organizations" and
"professionalism" are studied.

According to Ivy Strickler:
>
> >Well. This certainly seems to be an area of personal opinion,
> >strongly held. Into that danger zone let me introduce a fact:
> >There is a cluster on this topic in the professional
> >literature. NEDCC "Technical Leaflet" "Storage Methods and
> >Handling Practices," for example. Does anyone except me
> >remember the existence of "professional literature?"
>
> To Henry and the rest of the list:
> I agree that there are a lot of people on the list who would rather ask
> than do their own research (mostly students, I think). But there are also a
> lot of people who (myself included) who would read if they had ready access
> to the "professional literature." Many of us have other primary jobs and
> are trying to work with a small museum or historical society on the side.
> Maybe this isn't appropriate; maybe all "museum" work should go to "museum
> professionals" with the appropriate degrees and credentials. On the other
> hand, maybe all of you who are producing brochures and flyers on your own
> should leave all that to the professional graphic designers, like myself
> (just kidding :)
>
> Anyhow, we need to recognize that not everyone has the same resources. If
> it's not in my office or in the University library, I probably do not have
> the time to find it, let alone read it, and in the time/money/activity
> crunch I suspect many others are in the same boat. Perhaps instead of us
> all saying, "Why haven't you read such and such" we should be saying, "I'm
> putting in the mail to you a copy of ."
>
> 2c more...
> Ivy Fleck Strickler                     Phone 215-895-1637
> Drexel University                       Fax 215-895-4917
> Nesbitt College of Design Arts          [log in to unmask]
> Philadelphia, PA 19104
>
> "Never forget that life is like a Fellini movie, and you're getting to see
> it for free."
>