We treat our volunteers as "volunteer staff," and give them name badges which say that. Our policy forbids collecting in competition with the museum, not "...in the same areas..." The difference, in my view, is that we only collect historical items which have documentation, so most everything that our volunteers collect at flea markets and auction sales wouldn't constitute a conflict in the first place - it has no documented history. One of our collector volunteers - who by the way brings a vast knowledge of some items to our place - is now advising the county historical society on its acquisitions and helping them become more professional. If volunteers are competing with the museum for which they work, losing them should be a priority, not a concern, seems to me. Chris Dill - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - C. L. Dill, Museum Director State Historical Society of North Dakota 612 East Boulevard Bismarck ND 58505-0830 P: (701)328-2666 F: (701)328-3710 E: [log in to unmask] Visit our Web site at: http://www.state.nd.us/hist/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -