The following is posted on behalf of Ron Kley, a past president of the
Association of Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums, member of the
board of the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore, Maine,
and partner in Museum Research Associates.  The survey is very short and
completely anonymous, and has been posted on the ALHFAM list and the AASLH
Small Museums list.

If you have any questions or concerns, please address them to Ron at
[log in to unmask]

Thank you.

Martha Katz-Hyman
******************************
Dear friends and colleagues --

I think we've all heard reports, predictions and rumors regarding staff
positions at museums and related organizations that have been lost or
"frozen" in vacant status, as a response to the current recessionary
economy.

I'm attempting to compile some very basic quantitative information
regarding such losses (not including those rumored or predicted, but
"merely" those which have actually occurred), and their whereabouts with
reference to both geography and the functional areas most heavily
impacted.

The following link will take you to a survey form, which should require
no more than a few minutes to complete.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=YUvEbEXmMu216_2b9eFbEJ_2bQ_3d_3d

You needn't identify yourself, but if you care to provide your e-mail
address I'll be happy to send you a summary of the survey results.  I'm
afraid that the data will not provide pleasant reading, but I think we'll
all benefit from seeing some real numbers.

I recognize that this data gathering effort will only capture a momentary
snapshot of a dynamic situation that's still unfolding, so I expect to
post follow-up surveys in an effort to keep track of conditions as they
change for better or for worse.

I'm posting this message here on ALHFAM-L, and on the AASLH Small Museums
listserv.  I encourage those of you who subscribe to other museum-related
e-mail forums to pass this request along in order to broaden the base of
this statistical sampling.

Many thanks in advance for your input.

Regards,
Ron Kley
Alonzo Wood Homestead
East Winthrop, Maine

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).