What I believe began as a discussion on salaries has turned into a focus on certifying museum employees. I would like to comment on both. To use the doctor analogy again (that museum employees are not responsible for the lives of their customers), we actually need to have much more specific knowledge than a medical doctor. Medical doctors can take standaradized tests because body A has the same organs as body B. Does an employee in an art museum have the same body of knowledge as an employee in a science museum? Are two history museums so similar - one in a major metropolitan area and the other a historical society run mostly by volunteers? The general knowledge that an employee brings to a museum about ethics, practices, etc (which could be gained through a ceritification course or just through being well read in the field) is important but what is most valuable to the actual day to day functioningof the museum is the person's skills and competency in general. As for salaries and the above, school teachers take classes that keep them abreast of trends in education and those classes also serve the purpose of raising a teacher's salary. That's a model I would like to see pursued, but again, I don't think it could be enforced widespread. Allison Weiss Director of Education McLean County Historical Society [log in to unmask] _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]