Rose Laura, and any other persons whose toes have been bruised, I should probably stand up for my program as well. My Masters from Texas Tech did an exceptional job of providing theoretical and practical experience in a variety of areas before I ever left the building for my required internship. I suspect that is why I am rather picky. I know many professionals from Baylor, GW, UT, CUNY, and others who had great experiences and were fully prepared for the field. Unfortunately many of the programs out there do not require such internships, much less paid ones. Where they do, the discussion should be moot. So many programs have proliferated in the past decade, that I can not say with any confidence I have even heard of them all, much less know their requirements. The concern is clearly that somehow significant practical experience is being bypassed, resulting in underprepared candidates. There is also a strong element of the discussion that indicates more of that experience should come from the classroom, rather than the internship. That calls into question the nature, type, duration, and content of internships, which are just as relative as the programs themselves. But that should be a discussion for another thread. Keeping in mind(again) that we are not bashing museum studies programs, castigating them for anything in particular, nor picking out any programs in particular...I think the only question on the table is how to make employers better aware of these variations in program strength and how to help employers provide opportunities for new professionals that do not put their collections at risk while training new employees. This is merely a hypothetical discussion, which may be prone to tweaking the sensitive points of people proud of their programs. I tend to think the profession as a whole will find numerous ways to deal with the issue, if it actually becomes one of concern. It just seems a topic worthy of further consideration. Mark Janzen Registrar/Collections Manager Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection Wichita State University (316)978-5850 "Mahoney, Laura" <[log in to unmask] V> To Sent by: Museum [log in to unmask] discussion list cc <[log in to unmask] SE.LSOFT.COM> Subject Re: cataloguer training 09/24/2004 03:54 PM Please respond to Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask] SE.LSOFT.COM> Thanks for your message Rose. I graduated from the GWU museum studies program in 1996. That program REQUIRES at least 6 credit hours (equivalent to two courses) in internships. In addition to my two required graduate internships, I completed a museum internship as an undergraduate. It seems like many of the people commenting on the lack of vocational skills being taught in museum studies programs forget that internships are an essential and required part of these programs. Laura (McMann) Mahoney MA-Museum Studies From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rosie DiVernieri Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 12:16 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: cataloguer training Speaking as a person who is just out of one of those programs 2 years, I feel that I should stand up and say something about the quality out there. There are many good quality programs out there like Baylor, Texas Tech, George Washington to name a few. I graduated from the undergraduate program at Baylor, which is a great program. It is exactly what you are all agreeing on, vocational and theoretical. For example, in exhibition design, we actually planned and constructed an exhibit (with some professional help of course), in education class we taught programs at the children’s museum, and collections management required us to work in the collection for like 15 hours...all the while learning theory. And above all...internships were required. All of these things have helped me immensely in the professional world. This is just my opinion so take it as you will, but we as a profession need to make a push for some type of qualitative standard out there. I mean, archivists have a test, why doesn't the museum field? You don't have to take the test to work in the field, but if you do then you know you have met a certain level/qualification. This would help show future employers and the rest of the non-museum world, that we really do know what we are doing. But like I said, that is just my opinion. Rosie DiVernieri __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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