Archivist Jobs | Museum Jobs | Curator Jobs
Curator Career - What is a Museum Curator Job? What does a Archivist Jobs Involve?
Museum curators, archivists, and museum technicians work for institutions and corporations in order to preserve their records. Records can include important documents, works of art, plants and animals, historical relics, photographic objects, and building sites.
Museum archivists and museum curators are responsible for arranging and cataloging their collections, and maintaining these collections with the help of conservators. Curator jobs are also responsible for analyzing the value of items, and figuring out the best means of preserving valuable possessions.
The difference between archivists and curators is that the job of the archivist mostly deals with records and documents, while curators usually handle everything else.
Archivist jobs involve collecting and organizing information such as photographs, data files, books, and films, in order to preserve them for posterity. With the advent of computer technology, archivist careers may be responsible for converting records from different mediums, such as a letter to a file on a computer disk.
Archivists may also work in the special preservation of historical documents that require extreme care, such as manuscripts.
On the other hand, curators usually administer museums, nature centers, and historical sites, commonly working as a museum director. Museum curators are responsible for acquiring and exhibiting collections, in addition to purchasing in selling items in those collections. Curators may work for institutions or a governmental organization, and they are usually responsible for fund raising and promotional materials.
Curator specialties are usually in a field such as history, botany, or art.
Conservator jobs have a more in-depth role in preserving old documents, using x-rays and microscopic equipment in order to determine the best method for preserving these archaeological relics.
Curators are usually aided by museum technicians, who prepare most of the basic maintenance on museum items and historical artifacts.
Working Conditions for Archivist Careers - How is the Working Environment for Curator Employment?
Most curators and archivists will work 40 hour workweeks, although they usually have to travel extensively in order to acquire new acquisitions, and to conduct research. Since items of great historical value are usually rare in number, it is not uncommon for curators to have to travel a significant portion of the year.
Museum curators may work with the public in order to provide education and information on historical documents and sites. Overall, curator work is fairly light and safe.
Curator Jobs Education - Train to Become a Curator - How to Receive Your Education as a Museum Curator
Archivist education usually requires a bachelor’s degree in a undergraduate major such as art, history, or museum studies. Some colleges are now offering advanced archival techniques certification in library science, in order that one can obtain a master’s degree in archival studies.
In small museums, curators must be adept at business administration, marketing, fund raising, and management, in order to run most of the operations of a science museum. Curator employment in a larger museum may be required to have extensive educations or to work as part of a team of curators.
Conservators usually have the most advanced requirements for success, as employers look to apply their techniques in very expensive and fragile projects. Preserving historical relics and rare documents is a practice that can ill afford incompetence on the part of conservators.
All positions whether they be as a curator, archivist, or a conservator usually require advanced knowledge of computer skills and a high level of dexterity.
Archivist Employment Certification - How to Become Certified as a Museum Curator
Archivist certification for those entering the field as a curator, is nonexistent, and skills on the job are the most important consideration, in addition to educational level. Most curators will advance in responsibilities by moving to larger museums, or advancing their position in an existing large institution. In order to advance, a master’s degree in archival studies is required.
Outlook for Archivist Jobs - What is the Future of Curator Employment?
Over the next decade, museum archivists, curators, and museum technicians should experience growth by about 18%. Archivists jobs are expected to experience the largest growth as increasing amounts of records are transferred from paper to computer. Museums are constantly a fascination of the public, so museum curators should find themselves financially healthy in the future.
More museums are bringing in conservators on contract, so self employment is increasing among these individuals.
Curators and archivists with a master’s degree will be able to obtain the most competitive positions in the industry of information preservation.
Curator Salary Pay Scale - How Much Do Curator Careers Earn?
In 2006, the median earnings for archivist employment came to $40,730, while museum technicians and conservators jobs had a median salary of $34,340 over the same time period.
In 2007, it was found that the Federal government paid an average salary to archivist jobs of $79,199, while museum specialists and technicians earned an average salary of $58,855.