...
> I have hired several assistant registrars in my career and I would rather
> have someone with a strong sense of advocacy for the collection and the
> museum than any amount of experience and education. I can train a person
> in what they need to know but I can't teach them that strong sense of
> advocacy. It's like common sense, if you've got it, you can develop it.
> If you don't, oh, well.
> __________________
> Timothy S Bottoms
> Registrar
> Cape Fear Museum
> 814 Market Street
> Wilmington, NC ...
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Colin Stevens replies:
Well said Timothy!
When I was hiring historic interpreters for a couple of national historic
sites in Canada, I looked above all for the personality and the ability to
learn and communicate, rather than for someone who came simply with head
full of historical facts, but no communication skills (e.g. could not speak
comfortably to strangers). The first type of person I could teach the
relevant history to, whereas for the second type of person, I could not
always teach them to be a good communicator.
My favourite story is of a lady who part-way through the interview for
Battleford National Historic Park (Saskatchewan, Canada) realized that she
was being interviewed for the wrong job. She had applied to work as a
janitor and felt that she was unqualified to aspire to be an historic
interpreter. She had so impressed us with her abilities however that we
asked her to finish the interview anyway, and we ended up offering her a job
as an interpreter. Unfortunately she declined the job as her husband felt it
was above her station in life. A pity for both her and us.
With collections care it is a similar situation - the person either comes
with a passion for caring for the collection (a sense of advocacy) or they
do not. One can teach them the 'rules and procedures' but unless they
passionately believe in the care of the collection, they may never develop
the caring/advocacy mindset.
Colin Macgregor Stevens,
Curator,
Burnaby Village Museum,
Burnaby, British Columbia, CANADA
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Phone: (604) 293-6504
FAX: (604) 293-6525
Museum web site:
http://www.burnabyparksrec.org/villagemuseum/villagemuseum.html
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