At the risk of being flamed, I feel a need to respond from the point of
view of the museum professional working with an intern.  I have been
doing this for 11 years.  Many of the interships have been wonderful
experiences, but not all of them!  I have had interns show up for work
hung over, not show up for work at all, etc.  ( I should add that I
gained my early museum experience in 1984-1986 through internships, so I
also know what it is like to be an intern).

I echo the responses that internships are learning situations, like
school - simply a better form of learning through experience.  It is a
chance for those interested in the field to decided whether or not to
make the commitment, a chance to network, a chance to test theories, etc.

It takes time and effort on the part of the person supervising an intern
- lots of time and effort if it is done right.  It takes at least twice
as long to teach someone to do many things as it would take to do it
yourself.  I can't tell you how many nights I have stayed will past five
to catch up because I spent time with an intern.  I'm not complaining.  I
love working with interns and truly, it is a labor of love.  It is one of
the best ways to help create good museum people. I just think
interns should remember what people are doing for them.  (And certainly
interns make a great contribution to the organizations they work for).

Finally, there are paid interships out there.  It does require work to
find them.  It is not an ideal situation,  but then this is not a great
field when it comes to economics period.  I think most of us probably
make little more than interns when it comes down to figuring out how our
salary works out on a hourly basis with our overtime.

Go into this field if you love it and won't be happy doing amything
else.  Otherwise, find another career!

Kathrine Walker, Education Coordinator, Beach Museum of Art, KSU