John,

I have successfully made a shift from molecular biologist to museum
hypermedia specialist.  The process was gradual.  I managed a DNA
sequencing lab at a museum, gradually became invoved in hypermedia and the
WWW and have now shifted completely.  The only reason I could do it...even
though I wasn't trained in hypermedia, neither was anyone else at the
museum, so there was an opening, and I filled it.

What you need is opportunity, not necessarily additional education.

Jim

>Hello,
>     I am a Ph.D. Biochemist with very strong secondary interests in
>material culture.  I am planning to leave research biochemistry completely
>after twenty years of doing both that and developing my
>artistic/archaeological interests full time on the side.  I'm thinking of
>going back to school, if necessary, in museum studies.  Am I qualified for
>anything in your field as I am, or do I need to paper-document all I have
>learned on my own?  Any comments or advice are welcome.
>Donna J. Carty
>
>"To be perfect is to change often."  John Cardinal Neuman

Jim Angus
Director of Information Technology/Hypermedia Programs
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA  90007

voice:  213/744-3317
fax:      214/746-2999
eMail:  [log in to unmask]
            [log in to unmask]