> What gets kinda annoying is when you're trying to be a volunteer and then
just get blown off. ...

Jim,
  Please don't get discouraged.  I can tell you from personal experience
that the volunteers often show up between projects or right when I am amidst
something that is consuming all my time.  Please be patient, if anything
that is the one trait more desirable than any other in the museum world.
Ours is not a business that offers anything remotely approaching immediate
gratification.  Continue talking to your contact and get an idea of what
they need and let them get an idea of what you can offer and then
something comes along and suddenly you are sucked into it at 14 Gs.  Thats
commonly the process and it takes time.  Good luck and keep at it!


Kevin McCartney, Ph.D.
Associate Prof., Geology
Director, Northern Maine Museum of Science
University of Maine at Presque Isle
Presque Isle, ME  04769