[Nhcoll-l] Outsourcing prep

[Bryant, James]

Well put. Ironic indeed.

James M. Bryant
Curator of Natural History
Museum Department, City of Riverside
3580 Mission Inn Avenue
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 826-5273
(951) 369-4970 FAX
jbryant at riversideca.gov
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Gregory Brown
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 5:21 AM
To: Desjardins, R.B.
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Outsourcing prep

Becky,
The great irony in this, of course, is that Naturalis is displaying "live science" to the public but not practicing it! One must assume that budget decisions are made by administrators who do not truly appreciate science.
While I agree with what most others have said, I would not be so quick to assume that there is not a pool of very talented preparators available. In my field (vert paleo) there are several museum retirees with 25+ years of experience who do contract work and, of course, many who are without jobs due to budget cuts and decisions you are experiencing now.  Some have even joined together to form their own contracting businesses.  The key, if Naturalis is committed to making these cuts, is to find one of these quality individuals or organizations.  Now, whether or not this move will actually save money is another question.  Still, it is sad to see this trend by museums to quit DOING "real science" while touting it in their exhibits!  Perhaps there should be a sign outside the Live Science lab that says "This is what museums used to do back in the olden days".

Greg



Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 12, 2012, at 1:45 AM, "Desjardins, R.B." <Becky.Desjardins at ncbnaturalis.nl<mailto:Becky.Desjardins at ncbnaturalis.nl>> wrote:
Thanks everyone for your advice and thoughts on this matter. I  appreciate it.   One issue that has not been raised yet is that:  I suspect that anyone who knows how to do this work, and do it well, is already associated with a museum and not willing to take on any more. Or if they are (like the few offers I have gotten) we would have to wait until their schedules are open, rather than be on our time table.

Naturalis does have a "Live Science" area where bird or mammal specimen prep is performed every day for the public and it is wildly popular.  My guess is that they would keep this but all other prep would go.

Thanks again,

Becky Desjardins

NCB Naturalis
Leiden, Netherlands


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