Robin,
I just wanted to add something to my previous message.  I told you about the
Museum Management and Curatorship program, but I forgot to tell you that
there is a sister program to this, in Care of Collections and Conservation.
This is a two year, post-graduate diploma program.  If you would like
information about this program, I can get that for you.
Heather MacDonald
[log in to unmask]
The Canadian Canoe Museum
www.canoemuseum.net


>From: Lucy Sperlin Skjelstad <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: museum experience
>Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 11:30:35 -0700
>
>Robin,
>
>You're dealing with an age-old frustration that most of us who were once
>new graduates have experienced. If you take it one move at a time, this
>too shall pass!
>
>The internship you are doing was a smart thing to do, and becomes the
>first item on your resume, to which you will immediately start adding
>more. There are a few jobs which require only a BA, and while you are
>looking for one, how about a paid internship somewhere?  There have been
>many advertised on this listserve in the last few months. Also, there
>are many opportunities for seasonal work as interpretor in educational
>programs (your history background is a plus for these). Even if your
>real goal is collection care and management, you'll get opportunity in
>any internship to see how collections relate to other aspects of museum
>programming which will be an important understanding later on when you
>are working with collections.
>
>Or, find a job doing something that will later be valuable in museums,
>even though it isn't a museum.  Often the first jobs out of school boil
>down to getting whatever you can get that will in some way help your
>resume for later opportunities. I've known students who got jobs in
>completely different fields while they volunteered and looked for museum
>work, and in doing so learned aspects of marketing, graphic arts,
>computer related jobs, management, grant writing, educational
>programming, etc. that later were factors in landing a museum job.  See
>if you can find a museum professional locally who can help you figure
>out how other kinds of jobs might translate to later museum
>opportunities. You'll be surprised at how many do. (Since you know
>railroads, think of it as developing a job market 'switching system.')
>
>While there are established 'proper care' techniques in collection care
>(which, incidentally, seem to change constantly as we gain new knowledge
>and also can vary geographically due to climate), very often decisions
>must be made taking into consideration the differing characteristics of
>an artifact, as well as several conflicting needs and constraints of the
>museum --a simple and basic example is whether to use an artifact now,
>for educational use or protect it for long term preservation for future
>generations (or some combination thereof). For any given artifact there
>are at least 5 or 6 factors (or more) that would go into that decision,
>that would alter the decision outcome.
>
>It has always seemed to me that a major purpose of graduate school was
>to prepare you to avoid making major mistakes in doing the wrong thing,
>and to learn to make decisions based on these multiple considerations.
>So do grad school as soon as you can, even if only part-time. And while
>you are in grad school take all the resume-building opportunities you
>can: extra internships, summer jobs, week-end receptionist in a museum,
>etc. It will start adding up quickly.
>
>On the job training?  Look at it from the professional's point of view.
>For the reason mentioned above, it takes a huge amount of one-on-one to
>train someone on-the-job, and most museum professionals just can't
>afford the time, being pressed to do so much in their own job. (Not to
>mention that about the time you get someone trained they are likely
>leave for a better job and you have to start over again!)  Additionally,
>you are constantly at risk using someone who isn't trained in what *not*
>to do, and when you are dealing with irreplaceable artifacts, that seems
>not worth the risk, especially when there are so many people who do have
>either training or experience available.
>
>The bottom line is that it takes hard work to get into the museum field,
>and when you do, you work very hard for pay that usually isn't
>comparable to other fields. The flip side is, however, that you can have
>tremendous job satisfaction knowing that the work you do makes a
>difference, while doing something you really enjoy.
>
>Good luck!
>
>Lucy Sperlin
>
>
>Robin wrote:
> >
> > I will be graduating college with a B.A. in history in 2 months time. I
> > would like to pursue a career in museum work. Graduate school is of
>course
> > planned for the future, not the immediate future, but sometime within
>the
> > next 3 years. I was looking through a museum newsletter and became very
> > frustrated when all of the jobs in museum work that I was interested in
> > requested that the applicant have 3 to 5 years of experience. The is a
> > double edged sword here folks. How am I supposed to get that many years
>of
> > experience when I can't get a job because I haven't had a job to gain
>that
> > many years of experience? I am a huge fan of volunteerism, but I
>certainly
> > can't volunteer in a museum for the next 3 years. I am currently doing a
>6
> > week internship at a locan railroaders museum, getting introduced to all
> > aspects of museum work. However, 6 weeks isn't 3 years. There are
>people,
> > me being one of them,who would want to be able to take over caring for
> > historical artifacts and want to learn the proper techniques for doing
>so,
> > but run into problems because we are unable to find people or programs
>that
> > are willing to do on the job training. Remember, if you (as in museum
> > professionals) are worried about who will take care of artifacts and
>other
> > historical aspects, rest assure there are people out there who are more
> > than willing to learn the craft, just teach us.
> >
> > Any advice and/or comments would be wonderful and most appreciated.
> >
> > Thank you
> > Robin F.
> >
> > =========================================================
> > Important Subscriber Information:
> >
> > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
>http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
>information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
>message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should
>read "help" (without the quotes).
> >
> > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message
>to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
>"Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>
>=========================================================
>Important Subscriber Information:
>
>The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
>http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
>information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
>message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should
>read "help" (without the quotes).
>
>If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
>[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
>Museum-L" (without the quotes).

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).