Deb,

I would like to add one more thing to your list:   database experience.

I am the curator for a very small art and history museum.  I have been here
a year (this is my first museum job) and one of the deciding factors in
hiring me was the fact I had database experience.  Of course, I had an MA in
Museum Studies, too, but they also wanted their curator to be familiar with
running a database.  The Access program had been installed by a past curator
but, when she left the job, no one else in the building knew how to use the
program.  I was familiar with several different databases but had never used
Access.  All it took was a week and "Access for Dummies" to learn it.

While I was in school, I realized early on this skill would probably help
and made a point of getting as much experience on any database I could.  In
fact, one of my internships was at an NPS regional center doing collections
data entry.  I learned a lot there.  Some of the larger museums are
fortunate enough to have a registrar who will do the data entry and care for
the records.  But I wanted to work at a smaller museum and knew I would
probably have to do both curatorial and registrar duties.  That is what I am
now doing and I love it.

Ruth Callahan
Curator of Collections
Museum of East Texas

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