First, I'd love to have 20 interns vying to be here - but you don't actually need to love history to work at a museum, an appreciation, yes. You only have to love your job! The majority of the interns at the Buggy Museum were not history majors, nor were they planning to enter into the museum field - but they were still great interns. Interns here choose a project that helps them educationally and professionally. I had an education major who created some school programs for us - complete with the correct standards and tests; something she needed to be able to do for her intended career and something that was useful for us. Other interns have created exhibits, both large and small, while one mapped the contents of a building and yet another created a year's publicity campaign. Not one was a history major and not one went into the field. Only my most recent intern (a history major who has a degree in communications) came here with the plan to enter the museum field, he is still volunteering because he wants to gain more experience. So if anyone is seeking an employee - I have an intern you need to interview. Has it been time consuming for me, as a staff of one to oversee interns, volunteers and the other participants in the programs that we host - you bet, but for me, it's worth it. If you are pressed for time and don't want to teach the basics, change your criteria for an internship and specify the computer skills, etc that you want them to have. Make sure you express this to all the departments of whatever universities you get intern applicants and then you may have a more "select" pool to choose from. PS. One of my interns was a communications major who didn't know what a preposition was and didn't know how to research. But she learned a few things, managed to produce a useable product and her parents made a nice monetary donation to the museum. Bronwen Anderson-Sanders Mifflinburg Buggy Museum ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christa McCay" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 12:09 PM Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Is a love of history enough for interns? Hello All, My question is about interns. After having recently interviewing over 20 interns for the summer semester (fyi, we are a staff of 4 and will have more interns then staff at the Museum this summer), I have begun to feel that potential interns think that a love of history is enough to get them a position. Is it really enough? I have begun to feel that no it?s not. Often times they don?t have the experience with basic computer programs or with graphic design programs (mainly exhibits and marketing interns). I understand with this economy getting an internship and experience is the best for their resume and for getting a job after college. Also I understand that people need to start their experience somewhere,but most of these students don?t want to be in the Museum world when they graduate and often times assume that they will get to ?play? with cool artifacts all day. We all know that the truth is, there is a lot of paperwork involved with maintaining a collection along with data entry, both of which are not glamorous or very exciting. I know that our job is to teach interns but like many of us, we are juggling multiple tasks to make up for the positions that are currently empty and can?t be filled due to budget. Our teaching and training time is limited. I do want to have interns with a passion for history but also a passion to work in Museums. I sometimes feel like my time was wasted trying to teach and train someone who just wanted to do this for fun. I am sorry if this sounds like whining or sour grapes but I would like to know from others if a love of history is enough? Sincerely, Christa McCay, M.H.P. Registrar Marietta Museum of History 1 Depot Street, Ste. 200 Marietta, GA 30060 770-794-5726 ========================================================= 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). ========================================================= 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).