Catherine Klingman <[log in to unmask]> wrote in message
news:7c45120a.25113612@aol.com...
...> after graduation.  I then took a directors position in a small town in
Kentucky and I am the only full time paid employee.  I enjoy what I do and
I  feel that I can do it well.  My only wish is that I had more professional
> museum people to discuss issues with.
>
> This list has helped a great deal in maintaining my sanity. ...
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I took university museum training, worked in small museums and national
historic sites in several provinces and have gravitated to a larger city
museum. There are pros and cons to working in both large and small museums.
Try to enjoy each while you are there. CARPE DIEM - "sieze the day". The
grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the hill - just
different.  It is a bit like trying to chose between city and country
living. Yes it is true that there are people in large museums who would
gladly work in small museums - if they could afford to.

Some advantages of working in small museums:
* You are very close to your visitors and community
* you learn to do everything
* you can do anything without having to worry if it is someone else's job
and that a grievance or union dispute might arrise
*  when you succeed, eveyone knows it.
Some advantages to large museums and large organizations like national
historic sites:
* you know where your next paycheque (paycheck to you Catherine) is coming
from - I can recall paying myself less than what I was owed at one small
museum as the cash flow was just not there
* people are around to help hold the other end of the heavy artifact;
* you may actually have money to buy acid-free supplies
* you may have decent storage environments and systems
* usually there is someone to cover for you so you can take a summer
vacation with your kids (so that you can visit other museums in their peak
season) etc.

When you work in a small museum, it is often the "only game in town" . When
it comes time to leave your museum job, for whatever reason, then it usually
means you have to move to another community. I ended up moving less than a
fifty metres from one institution to another the first time I changed jobs,
then moved about 300 metres on the next job change, then about 2,000 km
(several times) on job changes.

The Internet (e-mail, lists, searching power etc.) is a wonderful new tool
for museums. I wish I had had it when I worked in small museums. Even now it
feels like being at an annual museums conference (without the pubs and
dancing) - one that happens every day.  Catherine - The good news is that
you DO have more professional people to discuss issues with - over 2,000 of
us on this list alone!

Colin Macgregor Stevens
Museum Curator
Burnaby Village Museum
6501 Deer Lake Avenue
Burnaby,  BC, V5G 3T6,  CANADA
Phone: (604) 293-6500  FAX: (604) 293-6525
Business e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Museum Webpage:
http://www.burnabyparksrec.org/villagemuseum/villagemuseum.html

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