Christa, Amy Fox's reply had a lot of merit, but I very much share your concerns. The world of small museums is chock full of very nice people who think that love of history is enough to run a museum. The time and effort invested in an intern is huge, and I hope you have enough applicants to choose the best. If they can do the job they are interviewing for, and learn at the same time that there is a lot more to museums than just liking history, that would be win-win. It's critical, I believe, to recognize the different levels of training behind different internship expectations. In every case, whether a high school intern, a college intern, a graduate student, or a museum studies intern you have to adjust expectations and training. I've seen some pretty sad situations where interns were expected to know much more than they did and in small non-professional museums it became "the blind leading the blind" in terms of good practices. It sounds like you have a wonderful opportunity for interns to do real jobs and I applaud you for providing this kind of learning experience --so I'd say, 'just hire to the job', and if they haven't enough museum training, be sure your opportunity is broadcast to regional museum studies programs. Lucy Sperlin -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Christa McCay Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 9:09 AM To: [log in to unmask] 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). ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1424 / Virus Database: 2411/4942 - Release Date: 04/17/12 ========================================================= 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).