It is my understanding that the American Association of Museums
(AAM) accredits one thing and one thing only, and that is
_museums_. They _do_ have a set of "evaluation criteria" for
museum studies _programs_, but in higher education _program
accreditation_ is a very specific thing. By way of comparison,
in the graduate professional sector, law programs are
accredited, by way of the accreditation of law _schools_. So to
with library "schools," although these seldom have the sovereignty or
autonomy of a law school. A list of program accreditation
bodies may be found in any number of places. The Peterson's
volumes, in the reference collections of many libraries, have
much useful information.
The history of the development of a "professional" identity in
librarianship - a part of which is the accreditation, by a
recognized national body, of schools offering not only
substantive instruction in the field but also "gatekeeping" (because
for one thing, in many states eligibility for certification by an
agency of state government requires the condition precedent of
graduation from an accredited program - should be looked at closely by
"museum professionals."
That will form part of the paper I am working on. I hope I will
somehow find the time to complete it.
Henry Grunder, Ed. D.     *USUAL DISCLAIMERS*
According to JHANDLEY:
>
>     Thank you -- who ever you are, for responding.  I want to organize
>     something myself on this thread and have contacted the AAM for a
>     current copy of their accredidation standards.  It is time
>     that we as museum professionals make demands of AAM to bring the
>     standard of employee care up to that of collections.
>
>     Who ever wrote this response, would you please contact me offthe
>     list?
>
>     [log in to unmask]
>     John Handley
>