On Sat, 23 Jul 1994, Ann Mintz wrote:
 
> To add another layer of information to Dave Wells' comment about the two
> facilities at NMAI.  Plans actually call for three buildings: the Customs
> House, the Mall Museum, plus the storage/study facility at (sp?) Suitland
> Maryland outside Washington D.C.  I participated in a two-day planning
> meeting for NMAI a couple of years ago, and they also discussed what they
> call the Fourth Museum, which a museum without walls on the grandest possible
> scale, a virtual assemblage of hundreds of tribal nations linked by
> technology.  In some ways, they felt that the Fourth Museum was the most
> important.
 
I too, was impressed with the concept of the "Fourth Museum."  NMAI
wanted to make its people and information available to tribal museums for
reference, at least.  That seemed a totally new way of promoting quality
museums.  Too often, tribal musuems are a one-person affair.  Not always
is the education and technology/information available.
 
One of the distressing things I found when I wanted to learn about
working in museums, was that the education isn't available until the
graduate level, at most universities.  I don't know why that is.  I
certainly didn't want to wade through four years of undergraduate to get
what I was after, that seemed silly.  Fortunately, between NMAI's Museum
Studies Institute and Evergreen State College, I have been able to pursue
that study.  Granted, I have to come places like Internet to ask some
questions, but at least I have the ammunition to ask the questions.
 
Thanks
Dave