O,kay...I'm jumping in as well.  I have been fascinated with this
    discussion and I agree with most points.  But let me clarify one
    point at least from my own experience.  I am a graduate of JFKU in
    Orinda CA, with a masters in museum studies.  As part of the
    requirements of that program, I needed one year's practical
    experience in the field.  I entered JFKU with almost two years of
    experience: I had worked two years as the asistant to a curator of
    collections, and I had also worked at the art gallery at my
    university doing everything from exhibit installation to the
    cataloging of the permanent collection.  I think few people really
    enter a masters degree program without some practical
    experience coupled with their education.  And most masters
    programs also require internship hours. At JFKU I was
    required to complete 600 hours of internship work, which I
    did at a museum plus a historic house.

    I am hopeful that this PhD thing will end soon.  I'm all for
    scholarship, but I think many of these so called scholars would be
    surprised at what we plain folk down here can accomplish.

    John Handley
    Museum of Ophthalmology
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