On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 21:36:45 -0400, Amy West at Higgins Armory <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Just a "kind of wondering" question: > >What's the difference between being a "curator" of education as opposed to >a "director"? Why the use of "curator" as a ranking in a hierarchy as >opposed to a job description? > >---Amy > >------------------------------ >Look, I have ONE job on this lousy ship. It's STUPID, but I'm gonna do it, >OKAY? >- Gwen DeMarco in _Galaxy Quest_ > >========================================================= >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). Good Afternoon Amy, I remember back in the '60s that the term curator was beginning to be used to place a specific (or comparable) position in a specific wage classification/scale. In other words the curators became managers of various departments, those curators would share the same pay scale with the academic curators. We began having Curators of Education, Curators of Exhibits,.....all having the same (or close to) pay grade as Curators of Anthropology or Curators of Geology. This usually meant a pay raise for the Manager of Exhibits and the Manager of Education. This was a big deal at the time since a significant number of the Curators of Education were women and they would have pay equity with other managers who were men. Today in certain government-run (or government-partner) museums the terms Director or Administrator have very specific meanings. As in my case (Administrator of Programs) Administrators direct several department Managers, who in turn manage Supervisors, who in turn supervise staff. Directors direct two or more Administrators. In some places (one being a city government and other a state government) the term Director is used to denote an appointed executive position. That is to say that the Director serves at the will of the Mayor or the Governor, and the Director's letter of resignation (without a date) is on file with the Mayor/Governor. All the Mayor/Governor has to do is fill in the date and the rest......as they say.....is history. I hope this helps, Wesley S. Creel Administrator of Programs Pink Palace Family of Museums Memphis, TN 38111 U.S.A. www.memphismuseums.org telephone 901.320.6370 ========================================================= 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).