For at least 20 years the (UK) Museums Association has refused to print advertisments seeking qualified curators (ie. graduates holding the Association's postgraduate Diploma - minimum of 2 years part-time study and examination/assessment) on starting salaries below the Local Authorities nationally negotiated Administrative and Professional Scale 4 or its equivalent, (roughly $22,500 rising to $25,000 US). This rule applies to advertismentsfrom the national and independent (non-profit or for-profit) museums as well. However, employers can still get round this by advertising for lower qualifications (eg. the four grades in the age 16+ school certificate for national museum and gallery recruits I mentioned earlier) even though they have every intention of appointing people with far higher qualifications than those asked for in the advertisment. Patrick Boylan