On what hopefully is a more pertinent vein that my last submissions, as a director of biological collections, I could not afford (assuming I had the money to afford) to hire a collections manager that didn't have a pretty healthy background in organismal biology--neither I nor collections curators have the time to explain the taxonomic hierarchy, nor taxonomic authorities, nor identification keys, nor the myriad other biological skills, to a new hire. Furthermore, this takes something more than a beginning biology course or two. If I have a choice between someone with a Museum degree or someone with a strong B.S. or (preferably) higher degree in organismal biology, I'd have to go with the knowledge of the field rather than with the knowledge of museum procedures and theory (in the best of worlds, of course, I'd like both). I can teach that subset of museum skills necessary in our circumscribed collections areas much more easily than I can teach the biological skills and understanding. Art Harris -- Laboratory for Environmental Biology Centennial Museum (Natural and Cultural History) phone (915)747-6985; fax (915)747-5808; [log in to unmask] http://www.utep.edu/leb http://www.utep.edu/museum