Actually, I don't think John and I are really disagreeing to any
appreciable degree--I _had_ set up an either/or situation (while
admitting that, in the best of worlds, I'd like a candidate to have
training in both areas) to emphasize that some not insignificant
level of discipline knowledge is necessary in some museum fields. A
decent degree program in the discipline should give one that level,
while not denying that experience working in the field is of
tremendous help.  It also can be noted that different museum studies
programs vary considerably in the quality of their products.

That being said, if a lister feels he has to choose between John's
and my expertise in this area, then definitely go with John's--he
has the experience and reputation that makes it real.

"John E. Simmons" wrote:
>
> With all due respect to Mr. Harris, I would like to disagree.  I
> have been a collection manager for over 20 years, and I have both
> a bachelor's degree in biology (systematics and ecology, actually)
> and a master's degree in museum studies.  This combination is, in
> fact, what most qualified applicants for collection management jobs
> will have (very, very few institutions have undergraduate degrees
> in museum studies).

> I don't think this is an either/or situation.  The question you have
> to ask is, what skills does one learn in a masters or PhD program
> in biology that will make you a better collection manager?  The kind
> of knowledge Mr. Harris is talking about is what you learn by working
> in a discipline area, not in a degree program.  More importantly,
> I would like to correct the assumption that there is a "subset
> of museum skills" that one needs for collection management.  There
> is, in fact, a large literature and large body of knowledge concerning
> collection management, storage environments, materials, integrated
> pest management, preventive conservation, computerization and so forth
> that is much better learned in a museum studies program than on your
> on. Having worked with a lot of collection managers over the last
> 20+ years, of every conceivable educational background, I can tell
> you that (1) a lot depends on the motivation of the individual but
> that (2) in general, those with a bachelor's degree in biology and
> a master's degree in museum studies are MUCH better prepared to do
> their jobs than those with advanced degrees in biology but without
> the museum studies training.
>
> I agree with Mr. Harris that the knowledge of the particular discipline
> in biology, particularly the taxonomy, is extremely important.
> However, my own experience has been that those individuals without
> museum studies training are woefully unprepared to be professional
> natural history colllection managers and face a much longer learning
> curve than they realize.
>
> I recommend the following references as germane to this discussion:
>
> Cato, P.S.  1991.  Summary of a study to evaluate collection manager-
> type positions.  Collection Forum 8:72-94
>
> Cato, P.S. R.R. Waller, L. Sharp, J. Simmons and S.L. Williams.
> 1996.  Developing Staff Resources for Managing Collections.  Virginia
> Museum of Natural History Special Publication Number 4:1-71
>
> Ford, L.S. and J.E. Simmons.  1998.  The diffusion of knowledge:
> Agassiz (1807-1872), Ruthven (1882-1971), and the growth of
> herpetological collections.  Pp. 577-593 in Pietsch, T.W. and W.D.
> Anderson (editors).  Collection Building in Ichthyology and Herpetology.
> American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special
> Publication Number 3.
>
> John Simmons
> Natural History Museum
> University of Kansas

Art Harris
--
Laboratory for Environmental Biology
Centennial Museum (Natural and Cultural History)
phone (915)747-6985; fax (915)747-5808; [log in to unmask]
http://www.utep.edu/leb http://www.utep.edu/museum