Robin, I just wanted to add something to my previous message. I told you about the Museum Management and Curatorship program, but I forgot to tell you that there is a sister program to this, in Care of Collections and Conservation. This is a two year, post-graduate diploma program. If you would like information about this program, I can get that for you. Heather MacDonald [log in to unmask] The Canadian Canoe Museum www.canoemuseum.net >From: Lucy Sperlin Skjelstad <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: museum experience >Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 11:30:35 -0700 > >Robin, > >You're dealing with an age-old frustration that most of us who were once >new graduates have experienced. If you take it one move at a time, this >too shall pass! > >The internship you are doing was a smart thing to do, and becomes the >first item on your resume, to which you will immediately start adding >more. There are a few jobs which require only a BA, and while you are >looking for one, how about a paid internship somewhere? There have been >many advertised on this listserve in the last few months. Also, there >are many opportunities for seasonal work as interpretor in educational >programs (your history background is a plus for these). Even if your >real goal is collection care and management, you'll get opportunity in >any internship to see how collections relate to other aspects of museum >programming which will be an important understanding later on when you >are working with collections. > >Or, find a job doing something that will later be valuable in museums, >even though it isn't a museum. Often the first jobs out of school boil >down to getting whatever you can get that will in some way help your >resume for later opportunities. I've known students who got jobs in >completely different fields while they volunteered and looked for museum >work, and in doing so learned aspects of marketing, graphic arts, >computer related jobs, management, grant writing, educational >programming, etc. that later were factors in landing a museum job. See >if you can find a museum professional locally who can help you figure >out how other kinds of jobs might translate to later museum >opportunities. You'll be surprised at how many do. (Since you know >railroads, think of it as developing a job market 'switching system.') > >While there are established 'proper care' techniques in collection care >(which, incidentally, seem to change constantly as we gain new knowledge >and also can vary geographically due to climate), very often decisions >must be made taking into consideration the differing characteristics of >an artifact, as well as several conflicting needs and constraints of the >museum --a simple and basic example is whether to use an artifact now, >for educational use or protect it for long term preservation for future >generations (or some combination thereof). For any given artifact there >are at least 5 or 6 factors (or more) that would go into that decision, >that would alter the decision outcome. > >It has always seemed to me that a major purpose of graduate school was >to prepare you to avoid making major mistakes in doing the wrong thing, >and to learn to make decisions based on these multiple considerations. >So do grad school as soon as you can, even if only part-time. And while >you are in grad school take all the resume-building opportunities you >can: extra internships, summer jobs, week-end receptionist in a museum, >etc. It will start adding up quickly. > >On the job training? Look at it from the professional's point of view. >For the reason mentioned above, it takes a huge amount of one-on-one to >train someone on-the-job, and most museum professionals just can't >afford the time, being pressed to do so much in their own job. (Not to >mention that about the time you get someone trained they are likely >leave for a better job and you have to start over again!) Additionally, >you are constantly at risk using someone who isn't trained in what *not* >to do, and when you are dealing with irreplaceable artifacts, that seems >not worth the risk, especially when there are so many people who do have >either training or experience available. > >The bottom line is that it takes hard work to get into the museum field, >and when you do, you work very hard for pay that usually isn't >comparable to other fields. The flip side is, however, that you can have >tremendous job satisfaction knowing that the work you do makes a >difference, while doing something you really enjoy. > >Good luck! > >Lucy Sperlin > > >Robin wrote: > > > > I will be graduating college with a B.A. in history in 2 months time. I > > would like to pursue a career in museum work. Graduate school is of >course > > planned for the future, not the immediate future, but sometime within >the > > next 3 years. I was looking through a museum newsletter and became very > > frustrated when all of the jobs in museum work that I was interested in > > requested that the applicant have 3 to 5 years of experience. The is a > > double edged sword here folks. How am I supposed to get that many years >of > > experience when I can't get a job because I haven't had a job to gain >that > > many years of experience? I am a huge fan of volunteerism, but I >certainly > > can't volunteer in a museum for the next 3 years. I am currently doing a >6 > > week internship at a locan railroaders museum, getting introduced to all > > aspects of museum work. However, 6 weeks isn't 3 years. There are >people, > > me being one of them,who would want to be able to take over caring for > > historical artifacts and want to learn the proper techniques for doing >so, > > but run into problems because we are unable to find people or programs >that > > are willing to do on the job training. Remember, if you (as in museum > > professionals) are worried about who will take care of artifacts and >other > > historical aspects, rest assure there are people out there who are more > > than willing to learn the craft, just teach us. > > > > Any advice and/or comments would be wonderful and most appreciated. > > > > Thank you > > Robin F. > > > > ========================================================= > > Important Subscriber Information: > > > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed >information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail >message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should >read "help" (without the quotes). > > > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message >to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read >"Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > >========================================================= >Important Subscriber Information: > >The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed >information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail >message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should >read "help" (without the quotes). > >If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to >[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff >Museum-L" (without the quotes). ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).