hi all And how about folks climbing onto boards of Historical Societies (many of which maintain museums) so they can tap into the dollars for a book they would like to have published? We have had board members quit the board because they couldn't get their first time book, no less, a guarantee of publication BEFORE anyone had even seen anything that looked remotely like a book. Or how about the folks that join boards only so their house, or whatever will receive a free historic site marker from the Society? Or how about the folks that join with absolutely no intention of EVER doing any work, ever raising any money, hardly ever showing up at a board meeting, never give a penny to help maintain the museum, but still expect to be treated like some sort of God because "after all, I am a Board Member." I could go on, but you more than get the point I'm sure. A paid Curator sitting on the board is usually only the tip of a rather nasty iceberg. Most boards do not have enough people interested in being a member - so most boards jump at anyone who would like to be on it. Many boards need to keep the numbers up because they will lose their affiliation with the State Historical Society if they don't - so in short, they cook the numbers. From personal experience, I no longer believe the numbers presented to me about membership. If a Board Member tells me they have 14 on the Board, I know that in essence they have probably 6 or 7 active Board members that are there for more than self aggrandizement. If they tell me they have a general membership of 400, I now assume that less than 100 is more accurate. If I ask what the average age is of their volunteers and am told it is in the 60 range, I know this is a society/museum that has done little to encourage younger than 60's to find a reason to join. I.E. the president has been the president since creation - the same goes for most of the other Board members too. New blood is not encouraged. New blood and younger blood is a threat. There are many good societies and great museums out there. There are also many, many bad ones. These are the ones that pay next to nothing - in fact are supremely proud of the fact that they have all volunteers running the show. For those of you looking for jobs in the museum field, I would suggest looking at the Board composition, make up of the volunteer list, the salary range etc before jumping in - it will save you a lot of frustration. It will save you quitting the job because you are not appreciated for what you are able to contribute. You can be sure too that if a paid Curator is on the Board, that is a board not doing its job. A paid Curator can sit in on meetings of the Board but should not have a vote. As a matter of fact, in many of these vest pocket museums I am talking about, a Curator is equivalent to janitor and the Board treats them as such. My two cents worth! regards Mary Haegele who has been on several Boards and is the member of a couple of Historical Societies www.joes.com/home/book_list On 19 Nov 98,, Hervé Gagnon delivered: > theoritical sense, the board's job is to supervise the director, whom in turn supervises all other employees. The board's functions are to implement policies, to allocate and raise funds, to do some p.r. on behalf of the museum and to exercise a general surveillance on spending. The director's job is to implement the board's policies, to reach the long-term goals set by the boards and to ensure the museum's professional functions. The curator's job is to exercise one of those functions. Confuse jobs and you'll end up with a lot of chiefs in the place... All in all, something to avoid at all cost.