So You Want To Work In A Museum… Guiding the Careers of Future Museum Information Professionals

Marty, Paul F. (2005) So You Want To Work In A Museum… Guiding the Careers of Future Museum Information Professionals .

Abstract

This paper presents results from twenty-one semi-structured interviews with museum information professionals who were asked about their experiences working with information resources, tools, and technologies in the museum environment. These interviews were analyzed to determine common elements in the participants’ career paths, educational backgrounds, and on-the-job experiences. Based on this analysis, we identified five factors that we believe will influence the ability of Library and Information Science (LIS) students to succeed as information professionals in museums. This paper will provide guidance for LIS students who wish to pursue museum careers, answering the question, “How do I become an information professional in a museum?”