At the recent Society for American Archaeology Meeting in Austin Texas, I participated in a speed mentoring session sponsored by the Committee on the Status of Women in Archaeology. My assigned focus was on Archaeology and Museums. I prepared a brief handout of resources for careers. Below is a slightly expanded version of the handout.
Resources for Careers in Archaeology and Museums
Books on Career Development
- The Anthropology Graduate’s Guide: From Student to a Careerby Carol J. Ellick, Joe E Watkins, 2011, Left Coast Press (Here is my review). I routinely recommend this volume as the primary resource for developing a career in the social sciences. I know of no better single resource. If one follows the step-by-step guidance in this volume, they will maximize their potential for employment upon graduation.
- A Life in Museums: Managing Your Museum Career edited by Greg Stevens and Wendy Luke, 2013, American Alliance of Museums. This volume covers many of the same topics as Elick/Watkins volume but with a very specific focus on Museum Careers.
Museum Journals of Interest
There are a plethora of peer-reviewed journals in the field of Museum Studies. Below is just a very small handful of those that include discussions at the intersection of museums and applied archaeology.
- Museum Anthropology – American Anthropological Association
- Museums and Social Issues – Maney Press
- Journal of Museum Education – Maney Press
- Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage – Maney Press
Major Publishers of Museum Studies and Archaeology
Though not exhaustive by any means, the three publishers below offer a good sampling of research published at the intersection of applied archaeology and museums
Miscellaneous Resources
- Society of Museum Archaeology – A worthwhile link from the UK
- Chronicle of Higher Education – The Chronicle is definitely worth staying on top of for current trends and discussions in the social science and museum studies fields. Many web links contain solid advice particularly for those seeking careers in academia.
- Museum Studies Graduate Programs List – A reasonably exhaustive US list of graduate programs in Museum Studies including online and certificate offerings.
Career and Listserv Links
Listservs remain a solid place for finding out about job openings, internships, and current trends in Museum Studies. If a student has done their homework to ask specific questions and not simply posts general queries like “Any advice for someone seeking a career in Museums?” they will find the membership of these lists quite helpful. The below lists are rather general, and between the three, contain most job and internship listings that are not highly specialized.
- Museum-L – General Museum list of museum professionals
- Museum-Ed – List of the Museum Education Roundtable
- AAMG – List for the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries. Particularly good for jobs and discussions related to university based institutions.
Some of My Stuff
- Archaeology, Museums, and Outreach Blog – https://rcnnolly.wordpress.com
- First in my series of posts on museum jobs:
- My Pearltrees Link with some 400 or so Museum Studies bookmarks:
My Contact Information
Robert P. Connolly, PhD, Director C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Memphis 901-785-3160, ext. 15 (museum) rcnnolly@memphis.edu – best way to get a hold of me https://rcnnolly.wordpress.com/
Other Voices 
A great list! Thanks – I will share this with my students!