I've been pondering what to do to get started in the museum field, and I realized that I have a great advice resource at my fingertips here in the Museum-list. I plan to finish my M.A. in Art History (at Penn State) by August and I've been trying to figure out what to do next. So far, the museum experience I have is last summer working as an assistant to the museum registrar at the Palmer Museum of Art on the PSU campus, with whom I'm also continuing to work (on a voluntary basis) on the preparation of an exhibition of medieval art that will be traveling after being organized and shown at the Palmer. I'm also contributing an essay and several object entries to the catalog of this exhibition. I took a semester-long museum studies class last spring (the only offering here at Penn State). I've given gallery talks on various topics and because of a talk on African art I've been asked to help put together an exhibit in a cultural center on campus of a private collection of African art. My eventual goal is to find a job in the registrar's department (though I haven't fully ruled out curatorial) of an art museum, and unlike most of my peers (it seems), I would actually rather _prefer_ to be in a smaller museum, especially a university museum. I think the challenges of functioning on a limited scale and budget, and the flexibility required of the various members of the staff of a smaller museum (at least from what I've seen at the Palmer) would be an exciting challenge. But I'm not sure what to do next. Here are the options I've thought of so far: 1. Start looking through Aviso and sending off resumes to other likely museums, trying to find a job starting soon after graduation. Or look at museum internships such as the Getty Museum internship program. 2. Go for a PhD in Art History somewhere where there are at least several classes in museum studies, if not a certificate program. 3. Get a degree in Museum Studies, probably another Master's. 4. Start polishing up my burger-flipping skills (god I hope not!). Anyway, I'd love it if anyone could give me a few tips on a good plan of action. E-mail me _or_ send it to the list, whatever you think is most appropriate, though I bet there are quite a few graduate students in similar situations lurking on the list who might like the info. Thanks in advance, Sarah Andrews [log in to unmask]