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. ... ========================================== 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 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. 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).