>From time to time there are worthwhile discussions on this list relative to professional standards and training in the museum world. I thought that this post, from the H-Local list, might be of interest to those that argue against the need for a "core" knowledge of museum practices and professional standards. Pretty soon we may have surgeons who trained as garment cutters. Truth is stranger than fiction, and if this one comes to pass the discussions over the Enola Gay issue may be relegated to minutia: ------------------------------------------- "Selection of U.S. Archivist --There seems to be renewed commitment at the White House Personnel Office for the task of selecting a nominee for U.S. Archivist. It appears that the leading candidate is a former Democratic governor of Kansas, John Carlin, who holds a B.S. degree is dairy science. Dr. Trudy Huskamp Peterson will soon be completing her second full year as Acting Archivist; and several earlier attempts to fill the position stalled for various reasons. During the last two months the Administration has considered several other possibilities for this position and interviewed in addition to Carlin, Raymond W. Smock, former Historian of the House of Representatives, and Nicholas C. Burckel, assistant dean for collections and services at the Washington University Libraries in St. Louis. There is considerable concern in the historical and archival communities about Carlin's lack of professional qualifications. The law specifies that the U.S. Archivist should be a non-partisan professional." ---------------------------------- _______________________________ Byron A. Johnson, Exec. Dir. The Tampa Bay History Center E-Mail: [log in to unmask]