Thank you for your patience with my question. Next time I will check at least 2 dictionaries before asking. My Concise Oxford does not contain the term. My Nelson Canadian (yes, there really is such a thing) does and indicates it is U.S. usage for either a teacher or lecturer at a university who is not a regular faculty member or a lecturer or tour guide in a museum or cathedral. As I am a relative newcomer to the museum world and a Canadian, I had never run across the term. My sister, also a museum person in Canada, thinks they use docent at the Art Gallery of Ontario and she tends to associate the term with art galleries. Given that she works as a costumed interpreter, she and her co-workers tend to use the term volunteer or interpreter. And on a happy note - we've had 8 inches of snow since last night and it is still falling! Trucks are getting stuck, never mind the skateboarders ;) -- Lauraine Armstrong Curator of Collections tel: 867-872-2859 Northern Life Museum fax: 867-872-5808 PO Box 420 Fort Smith NT X0E 0P0 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers, is contained in the dog." Franz Kafka ========================================================= 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).