As to whether a Museum Studies person would have a better
          chance at a job then someone without the degree: it depends
          on the job, the candidates, the museum.
 
          There are still plenty of people in the museum world who
          have come from an entirely different angle, particularly in
          administration and development. Almost all curators I know
          have subject specific advanced degrees. I don't really know
          what museum studies degrees cover, but if you want to be a
          collections manager, particularly in archival type
          collections, a library degree should work well.
 
          Certainly, experience and good references/personal
          contacts are the key.  For most non-curatorial museum jobs,
          degrees are secondary or tertiary to these criteria. I don't
          know where you live, but it helps to be somewhere where ther
          are lots of museum-type places -- simply more opportunities.
 
          Eric Siegel
          [log in to unmask]
 
          15 years in museums, and I still usually like it.