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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/27/24 6:39 AM, Shoobs, Nate wrote:<br>
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I think what John articulated here is correct but perhaps
unfortunate. </div>
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I would love it if there were an international guild of
museum curatorial staff that had an apprenticeship system.
(Or, alternatively, if collections management were
professionalized to a greater degree and we became similar
to university professors, art museum curators, or
librarians.) But neither scenario is currently the case.<span></span><span></span></div>
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<p>Not currently the case, but there are things that somewhat fill
that void. At the risk of a little institutional self-promotion,
allow me to post something from one of our campus student
organizations:</p>
<p>"The Natural History Museum Club at UCR is a local branch of the
Natural History Collections Care Network. Our activities include
volunteering in collections on campus (such as the geology
collection, entomology museum, and herbarium), museum science
workshops, and tours and/or field trips to museums on and
off-campus.<br>
<br>
The purposes of the Natural History Museum Club at UCR
organization shall be:<br>
<br>
I. To provide multidisciplinary education, training, access, and
opportunities for museum work to students which would otherwise be
inaccessible or limited in scope<br>
<br>
II. To interface with a nationwide network of like clubs on other
university campuses<br>
<br>
III. To facilitate interactions between undergraduates, graduates,
staff, and faculty in fields utilizing natural history collections<br>
<br>
IV. To further the goals of campus natural history museums"</p>
<p>I see from the NHCCN website
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://thenhccn.wixsite.com/nhccn/clubs">https://thenhccn.wixsite.com/nhccn/clubs</a>) that at present there
are only seven affiliated chapters, but it's a fairly new
initiative, and hopefully other institutions will sign on. Part of
that issue is promoting awareness of the organization, and as I am
one of the campus advisers to our chapter, I suppose that promoting
it here in this thread is acceptable and appropriate. These clubs
are very much intended to fill the gap at institutions that have
campus collections but do not have courses (let alone a degree) in
collection management. Our chapter has been active for only a few
years, but it has already helped a number of students, as well as
collections. The last four museum technicians we've hired have all
been students in our campus chapter, and I think the herbarium and
geology collection on campus have also hired NHMC members. This
gets us very motivated technicians, and gives them something
tangible for their CVs, plus the potential for a very meaningful
letter of recommendation, should they need one. I encourage people
to consider looking into joining this network, and I can vouch for
its benefits. It may not be much, but it's a positive step, for
sure. Given time and a critical mass of members, I can imagine it
eventually growing into another force for advocacy, which would be
a good thing.<br>
</p>
<p>Peace,<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Doug Yanega Dept. of Entomology Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314 skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html">https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html</a>
"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82</pre>
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