Has anyone done practical exercises in an archivist job interview? What were they and do you think they were an effective part of the interview process?

In our museum storage space we have a Japanese teaset brought back from a sailor on board the USS Louisiana, around 1908 when they visited Japan. Aside from whats pictured here, there are 4 more teacup-saucer pairs.

We're in the process of getting more shelving, and these items are a top priority for getting rehoused. The larger teapot especially, since its current method of storage is laying on its side in a ethofoam-lined drawer that has just shy of an inch clearance between its "tallest" part and the top of the drawer.

Would anyone have any insight into the best way to store a teaset like this? As much as possible, we'd like for them to be enclosed in cabinets or (larger) drawers? Thank you!

(Apologies if this is the wrong subreddit!)

I’ve been getting more and more into art and museums and I want to learn properly rather than just skim internet or whatever ranks first on Google. I’m looking for sources that people who really know the field actually respect. Unfortunately, don't fully trust LLM too.

Could you share your most trusted:

• Books, both good introductions and deeper dives
• Podcasts
• YouTube channels or video series
• Free online resources, like open courses, museum archives, or open-access collections

I’m interested in everything from art history foundations to simply learning how to look at and understand a work. Free or low-cost is a bonus, but I mostly care that it is accurate and well-regarded. Thanks in advance, I’ll happily compile and share back what people recommend.

Hi everyone. I’m Kaveh from the Museum of Synthesisers. We are focused on the history and culture of synthesisers and electronic sound.

We want visitors to experience the objects in our future collection rather than only see them behind glass. In our case, that includes giving people the opportunity to play the instruments. Making this possible is an important part of how we’re shaping the museum.

We’d like to hear from people who have developed similar experiences with their collections. What methods have you explored, and how have they worked in practice? How did you organise access while caring for the objects? What did you learn from visitors’ responses?

Experiences from any type of museum would be welcome. We’d also be interested in research you’ve found useful or approaches that didn’t work as expected.

Hello! I’m reaching out to ask if you have any recommendations or preferences regarding guided museum tours. As part of my university’s social service program, I’ll be leading tours—it’ll be my first time in this role! I’m a bit nervous, but I’m hopeful that it will go well. Any tips or examples you could share would be incredibly helpful!

What are your tips for a big inventory project? Set up suggestions? Success stories? Things you wish you knew when you started? Lay it all on me!

We are about to start a gargantuan inventory project at my museum this winter and I’m trying my best to make a decent plan. Our collections storage area is full of uncatalogued/not-accessioned/unlabeled items all mixed in alongside the actual collections items (due to a lack of staff and space the past few years) so we will have our work cut out for us!
One thing I’ve done to prepare is make this “Inventory Decision Map” specific to our situation. I think I based it roughly on the AAM’s Found In Collections decision map. It’s probably a bit too complicated but so is everything else about museum work lol

Hi all, I’ve just started a new role at a museum that is far outside of my long-term career goals and I’m looking for some advice. I’m deliberately keep the details scarce.

I have worked in museums for a few years now and I’ve just taken a role in a department that makes use of the skills I’ve built, but is different from my previous experience. While I am passionate about the work, I am not entirely passionate about the museum or its mission. With my experience, I had several job offers on the table from different institutions and ultimately decided to take this role because the pay was the highest. As we all know, this field is not a high-paying one, so I took the best opportunity in terms of making a livelihood. Fortunately, my job is not curatorial or content-centric. I know the experience will be (hopefully) good on a resume to a future museum, but my question is this: how do you get excited about a mission that you’re not particularly interested in?

Ultimately, a job is a job. I know they hired me because of my experience and dedication to museum work despite being aware that my eye is on a very different type of museum. I’m someone who needs to have interest in the mission in order to feel motivated to get out of bed every day (this is my ADHD speaking). With this new role, I don’t feel that same pull I have felt in previous jobs. I plan to stay in this role for a few years but I want to do the job they hired me for and contribute to their work. But…I’m just not energized by the museum itself. This could also just be the fact that I’m brand new and that things could change as I get more comfortable in the position. Any advice?

Fully zoomable and explorable without jumping

Hi everyone! I’ve never worked in a museum, but I love visiting temporary exhibitions and have always wondered how short-term loans come together behind the scenes. What does the end-to-end process look like for getting a work from a private collection onto a museum wall?

I’d love to hear from anyone with hands-on experience: curators, registrars, collections managers, art handlers, or collectors who have lent work. Happy to chat in the comments or by DM. Thanks in advance!

does anyone work at the smithsonian and would like to share their experience/advice? especially if you work in HR!

Hello! I recently got a job as a Gallery Host at my local art museum. Basically, I mostly stand in the galleries and help museum guests with questions and make sure no one is touching the art or risking damaging the works.

Thing is: I was a classroom teacher the last two years. I love teaching (and I’m pretty darn good at it) but I have been unable to navigate workplace politics and have unfortunately been let go twice. As a result, I’m looking to transition into the museum space because I have found that I am able to get along better with the administration (an unpopular opinion I know, but, c'est la vie!). The problem I’m facing is that the entry level position I’m in mostly has me silently standing for hours and hours at a time. I do get two small breaks and one lunch break thankfully, but I’m having trouble with boredom. I’m not allowed to be on any electronics and I’m not allowed to sit down during my shift except on breaks. I’m also not allowed to write or draw but I may be able to get away with it in small doses.

I’m wary of going against the grain here. I’ve learned through experience at my previous two jobs that the folks-in-charge already don’t tend to like me. While I am in weekly therapy to fix those ongoing issues, I would like for this museum and others in the area to consider me for full time positions in the future so I don’t want to rock the boat too much.

My question to you all is: what should I do with my long stretches of time? Is there anything you suggest I do while I’m working that wouldn’t get me in too much trouble?

Hi! I want to one day work in museums doing curatorial or research work, specifically in Classical Antiquities. I want to study Classics, and I was thinking of either a minor in Art History or Museum studies (I'm only allowed one minor). The college I'm planning to attend allows joint majors, so I could do Classics with a joint in Art History and then a minor in Museum Studies, but then that would cut down on the amount of language requirements for Latin and Greek from the Classics part, and I think I would need the bachelor's to be a good linguistic foundation, not just the basics. I want to pursue a Masters (and possibly a PhD) after I graduate as well, probably in Classical Art. If anyone has any advice or anything I would be super grateful!!

Title pretty much says it! I’m applying to get a masters in art history to ultimately be able to work in museums. I’m specifically looking to study decorative arts which seems to be relatively unpopular and most of the programs im applying to are very small or have only one faculty member who studies decorative arts if it’s a bigger school.

Is reaching out now to get in contact a good idea/encouraged/required?

Hi all, I have an interview tomorrow for a curatorial and programming assistant position. I have a BFA and an MFA. I have experience teaching and can create programs; I'm just a bit concerned about the curatorial assistant part. I have some experience, being that I'm an artist, but would love some advice on how to approach this with regard to this specific role. I have experience working in museums as a volunteer and in galleries as a gallery assistant. How can I best prepare for this role, and what questions can I expect? I really want a full-time museum role.

We would like to thank everyone who's made The Academy of Natural Sciences great.

As the title indicates, I’m considering continuing education opportunities. I have an MA in Art History and about four years experience working as a preparator/art handler and in collections (registrar, lots of database management). At my new job (still in the arts), there is a lot of down time and basically no room for advancement. I am considering taking some courses/workshops in Historic Preservation.

I live in Philly. Rutgers-Camden has a Historic preservation certificate program that seems interesting but is it worth my time? Would love to hear from someone who’s gone through it.

The hands on work is my favorite part of work. I also love exhibit design but feel a little late to the game on learning software to make that a reality.

Open to suggestions and whatnot!

Reposting here—need advice!

So there are some people, a goat and a cow with a bright light falling on its face. If I remember it correctly, the theme of the painting is something connected to war. It is located in Western European hall of the museum. So I hope that’s enough, please help me if you can.

An Open Call for Submissions❗

What goes unnoticed? What gets left out? What refuses to make sense? We are constantly surrounded by information, images, stories, opinions and records. But what reaches us is never the whole picture.

Ephemeral Architectures is about to host an exhibition- OF F THE RECORD and is putting together a publication exploring invisibility and incoherence - what remains unseen, unheard or unrecorded, and what happens when the things we encounter refuse to form a coherent whole. It could also be a personal anecdote — a memory, an untold history, an overlooked experience — a story you wish more people knew about. Perhaps there are people, places, communities or experiences you feel are misrepresented or underrepresented, or missing from the stories we collectively tell.

We're open to anything: essays, photographs, illustrations, comics, poems, personal writings, found texts, excerpts, screenshots, documents, collages, visual experiments, or things that don't fit into any of these categories.

See your work in print! We promise you an exciting publication:)

https://forms.gle/9ARSYb9XdmKWnCo3A

The deadline for these submissions is 19 October 2026.

For any queries contact me,

Sakshi Patil

[sakshi.ubd23305@cept.ac.in](mailto:sakshi.ubd23305@cept.ac.in)

Note I did come across an older post asking a similar question,, I believe OP was asking how to transition from being in luxury fashion PR to landing a position in a museum, and what roles could be a possibility without having to go back to school, get a MA etc.

To make this short, I've had fashion design experience at a very amateur level, but went to FIT to study the generic fashion business management, and international trade and marketing, but I also had a minor in Art History. All my life art and fashion history has been a side interest of mine, simply reading books, doing my own research and writing up my own theories just for the hell of it. I've been in product development in the fashion industry for about 6 years now, but I just know that this is something I don't want to continue doing. It's stable, but I've always had that "what if" at the back of my mind. I even applied for FIT's MA program in fashion and textiles studies, but it's become a more competitive program to get into as of late, needless to say that I did not get accepted. Volunteering also seems to be a long shot, as priorities are for students looking for internships, basically anyone with an actual background, academic &/or professional in this world.

Is there any route I can take, having a product development background and experience, to potentially switch gears? Or simply finding a place where I could volunteer. I want to make my interest useful, and there's only so much self learning I could do.

and yes, I am in the NYC area. Thanks so much in advance for any advice or suggestions, I am open to all.