On Mon, 9 Jan 1995, Tim Bosher wrote:
 
> The Preparators Department at the Museum of Victoria (Melbourne,
> Australia) have asked me to forward the following message to MUSEUM-L.
>
> *       Do you have a Preparator's Department in your museum?
 
No, not a department.  The Exhibition technicians are part of the
Registrar's department.  They report to the Supervisor/exhibition
technicians who in turn reports to the Registrar.
 
> *       If so - over time have staffing levels increased, decreased, etc?
 
Over the last ten years we have added technicians to the staff.  However,
in the last five years we have not had a staffing increase although the
number of exhibitions has increased.  This has forced us to depend on
temporary staff.
 
> *       Where do preparators fit within your organisation structure
 
The technicians and the Registration department are part of the
Curatorial division.
 
> *       If staffing levels have changed, how has this affected quality of
>         output, costs, time, use of external contractors etc.
 
We depend on outside contractors and "temporary" art handlers for
exhibition installation.
 
Cathy Ricciardelli
Registrar
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
2400 Thrid Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404