I was a volunteer board member in a local historical society in 1981, with an interest in historical objects but professionally trained and working as an archaeologist. I had to get out of the archaeological field work, which I loved, when I learned that my sudden sluggishness and distorted vision was due to MS. I stepped into research and writing, which was both cleaner and warmer than leaping in and out of pits with giant bulldozers hovering, and then my husband's "maiden" aunt died, leaving him sole heir of the family collection of ten generations of family historical objects, documents, photographs, textiles, art, tools, etc. etc. Because I had no idea how to care for these things, I asked conservators at San Francisco museums what to do, and they directed me to the Center for Museum Studies, a campus of JFKU. I was smitten, continued through the MA program, and have been a Museum Collections Manager and Collections Management Consultant ever since (with some time shared as an archivist, which also required going back to yet another school). My first real museum job was for the historical society I had served as a volunteer, who ran the county historical museum. I was preparing an exhibit as a volunteer guest curator when the curator went on early maternity leave, and I was hired temporarily until she could return (plus I still finished and installed the exhibit!). I was still attending JFKU at this time, so went to school at night after an 8 to 5 day at the museum-- and the school was 1 1/2 hours away! The curator decided not to return, I convinced them they actually needed a collections manager/archivist part time in addition to a full time curator, and when they found someone to be curator I became the collections manager. I can't agree enough with the listers who advise job-hunters to volunteer at museums while seeking work. You can train people to do some museum tasks, but you cannot train people to have passion for their work-- if that essential element is there, you will find a job in a museum if you stay close to them. The job notices on this list alone are often terrific-- stay flexible, reach for the implausible if it reaches out to you. I'm retired now, but still accepting temporary and part-time museum and archives work. Micki Ryan Curator, Highline Historical Society Burien WA ========================================================= 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).