I've been hanging around here thinking this was a general museum discussion
list.  The messages seem to be highly varied or at least to take a broad
definition of museum educators.  The job postings cover everything from
registrar to director and the other postings seem to do this as well.  I
hope that the broader focus will continue.

It might be easier for some of us if the specialized messages were, as
suggested earlier, identified at the outset.   I get hung up in thinking I
should understand most things written in English.  Think of the frustrations
I had with computer manuals and computer software manuals until I decided
they only appeared to be written in English....

----- Original Message -----
From: David E. Haberstich <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2000 11:22 PM
Subject: Re: <LOL!>


> In a message dated 00-10-06 15:41:34 EDT, Ellen Cutler wrote:
>
> << I was, myself, startled to read something on a museum educators' list
that
>  was to me, an art historian/educator/writer almost unintelligible....
>
>  Perhaps we have here an issue of etiquette (or possibly the dreaded
>  "netiquette") alluded to by an earlier writer:  when list members pose
>  highly technical questions or reach out to specialists in new and/or
obscure
>  bits of turf in the field, wouldn't it be
polite/friendly/collegial/helpful
>  to open with a statement like "I am interested in reaching..."? >>
>
> The latter comment is well taken, and is in agreement with my previous
post
> on this issue.  As I said then, in my opinion the only thing really wrong
> with the original message was that the fact that it was actually addressed
> only to CIMI members was buried so deeply at the bottom.  It would have
been
> most helpful if something like "Announcement for CIMI Members" had been
the
> subject line.  I hope that would have eliminated all the objections to the
> technical, allegedly obfuscatory terminology.
>
> However, I am concerned about the assumption that this is a "museum
> educators' list".  If that's true, I was never aware of it, except in the
> most general sense.  I thought this list was for all who are concerned
with
> museum (and museum-like) issues, including the management and operation of
> museums, collection care and conservation, etc., etc.  I suppose I am a
> museum "educator" in a way, and I hope that the things I do are somehow
> educational, but I seldom think of myself as an "educator" except in a the
> broad sense--I tend to think of the people with more specific training in
> "museum education" as the educators.  Nevertheless, the ultimate
"education"
> goal is realized in a variety of ways, not the least of which is making
> information about our collections available, e.g.,through automated
> cataloguing and the management of electronic databases.  This is a
technical,
> specialized field, and like many specialized fields, it has a lingo which
> participants use to communicate with each other.  I'm not even a database
> manager, just a collection manager/ archivist/curator who is also a
part-time
> cataloguing coordinator, but cataloguers really do toss around terms like
> "interoperability" and "metadata," so I understood most of the message and
> was familiar with most (not all) of the acronyms.  But I also understood
that
> it did not apply to me and was addressed to people with a higher level of
> expertise in the field.
>
> There are many messages on Museum-L which are over my head, including some
> references to educational theory with which I am unfamiliar.  The museum
> field and its related disciplines are large and include a wide variety of
> specialties.  I have learned a great deal from this list and it has truly
> broadened my horizons, but I see no reason to assume, as has already been
> pointed out, that I should understand every message I read.  In fact, I
> rather appreciate the fact that some of them go over my head--it keeps me
> humble!  There are many audiences for this list, in my observation, not
just
> generalists.  I would suggest some tolerance.  Having said that, I also
> strongly agree that "netiquette" on such a varied list demands relevant
> explanatory or directed subject lines for new subjects.
>
> David Haberstich
>
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