Paul,
This topic has come up many times in my Graduate classes.  Simply put, it
is unethical for a museum employee to collect personally what he or she is
involved in collecting for the museum.  So you must either give up your
hobby, or keep working outside the field.  Some museums now actually
require "non competing" clauses signed by employees.
The other issue is that, frankly, since there are numerous persons who have
both professional training in the form of internships, etc., AND MA/PhD
degrees, who are "fighting" over what few jobs are available, without
similar education and training you would have little chance of actually
getting hired in a position such as curatorial or collection management.
Further, you may want to consider that museum work pays little and
certainly A LOT less than IT fields.  Curatorial assistants with MA/PhD's
in large museums in large city still only make in the low 20K range.
Directors of small museums may make the same.  Many people, when they first
start out, are forced to work multiple jobs because they can't "pay the
bills" on museum salary at entry level.

Lori Allen,
Graduate Student, UMSL

"Well behaved women rarely make history."
                                  - Anonymous

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Paul Barone
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 1:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: "Collectors" in Museum Jobs?


Hello All,

I joined this list to consider entering the museum job market, getting away
from the software instruction and administration that now pays the bills. I
am a collector and historian, specializing in and actively researching the
roots of amateur photography, primarily 1880-1930. I have a large
collection of cameras, images, and ephemera, and am now interested in
turning the years of information I've amassed into a new career. I do not
have a degree in anything even remotely related to museums, but have an
extensive library of museum-related handling and cataloging procedures. I
use these procedures on my own collection, which is essentially its own
small museum. I rotate exhibits throughout my house and invite colleagues
to visit when they are in town.

So my question to the braintrust is:  Do any of you have first-hand
knowledge of "collectors" entering the museum ranks? And is "collector" a
bad word in museum ranks, since they are the ones who go after pieces that
museums should possess instead? I'd much rather call myself an historian,
since it is not enough for me to own a piece without knowing everything
about its marketing, usage, social and cultural impact, etc.

Very curious to hear your comments - I have enjoyed all the discussion on
this list so far.

Paul Barone
Los Angeles, CA
Owner/Webmaster, BoxCameras.com
www.boxcameras.com
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