Your questions and concerns are certainly valid, and shared by many
of your U.S. colleagues. I have been struggling with these issues for
the past two years as I complete my book, PLANNING MUSEUM CAREERS,
which should be out later this year. We have discussed these issues with
literally hundreds of museum people and with people in related fields,
and with futurists.There is no actual consensus, but many feel:
  1. This financial crunch is cyclical, and as the economy improves,
     so will the financial situation in museums improve. But in the
     meantime there is downsizing and rethinking as to the
     organizational structure of museums.
  2. The advancement in technology is astounding, and museums are
     getting on the bandwagon. There will be demands for people
     who are computer-literate and beyond...creative and visionary.
  3. Museums are competing, whether they want to or not, with the theme
     parks, the Disneys, and the mega-malls. So, cultural tourism is
     rearing its ugly head, and museums need strong and dedicated
     people who can create attractions at museums, but keep the
     INTEGRITY of what museums are all about.
  4. Some feel that, as you mention, specialists as contractors
     will be in demand, keeping the core staff of museums smaller,
     which makes it necessary to train more specialists, but also
     keep a supply of well-trained generalists to run the museums.
     However, large and medium size museums will always need subject
     matter experts, good managers, and documentalists. The question
     becomes how much people can double up in their jobs.
  5. The competition is going to be fierce in the next few years, and
     museums will have to be much more accountable to their sources
     of funding, which means that the cream of the crop will be hired
     to work in museums.
  6. That's not all bad as we are aiming to professionalize the
     museum field. Ethical, well-disciplined, knowledgeable people
     will find jobs...there just wont be as many of them (jobs) as
     previously until financial constraints are lessened.
  7. So, it appears that museums will be looking for communicators,
     media managers, administrators, human resource experts,
     curators (still!), collections managers (with technical skills),
     and EDUCATORS.
  6. I predict that museums will consider all of the staff as educators,
     but they will need very wise and creative people to plan the
     museums direction to be community-oriented, appeal to and include
     their diverse constituencies, and offer an alternative to
     school-based learning. (We have the real stuff!)
 
That's all for now, Lynn,...you will have to buy my book when it comes out!
Good luck with your workshop, and I will be anxious to hear the outcome.
 
Best regards.......Jane
 
(Nancy Fuller from OMP is attending. And yes, the Smithsonian is in
the same financial bind as everyone else).