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Museum educator vs archivist

The differences between museum educators and archivists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a museum educator and an archivist. Additionally, an archivist has an average salary of $47,145, which is higher than the $40,399 average annual salary of a museum educator.

The top three skills for a museum educator include educational programs, art history and K-12. The most important skills for an archivist are archival collections, online database, and archival materials.

Museum educator vs archivist overview

Museum EducatorArchivist
Yearly salary$40,399$47,145
Hourly rate$19.42$22.67
Growth rate12%12%
Number of jobs18,481449
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

What does a museum educator do?

Museum educators develop and carry out all the museum's education and public programs. They are in charge of the community outreach programs and writing curriculum around their museum's collection institution. Part of their task is to present educational programs to enhance the public's understanding of the various STEM subject areas. They are responsible for duties under general supervision, develop instructional activities and materials, apply basic organizational and problem-solving skills, document program evaluations, and make recommendations for prompt improvements.

What does an archivist do?

An archivist is an information professional who assesses the value of information and then stores them in such a way that people can access the information and make sense of it. Archivists are required to have a great understanding of the historical context of the records, such as the relationship of a record to other records and why it was created in the first place. They must work closely with record managers and his/her torians to store and preserve perishable documents. Archivists must also organize public events such as talks and exhibitions.

Museum educator vs archivist salary

Museum educators and archivists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Museum EducatorArchivist
Average salary$40,399$47,145
Salary rangeBetween $26,000 And $61,000Between $23,000 And $94,000
Highest paying City-Washington, DC
Highest paying state-Alaska
Best paying company-Apple
Best paying industry--

Differences between museum educator and archivist education

There are a few differences between a museum educator and an archivist in terms of educational background:

Museum EducatorArchivist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorFine ArtsHistory
Most common collegeHarvard UniversityHarvard University

Museum educator vs archivist demographics

Here are the differences between museum educators' and archivists' demographics:

Museum EducatorArchivist
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 30.6% Female, 69.4%Male, 43.1% Female, 56.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 76.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.3% Asian, 5.1% White, 76.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage13%13%

Differences between museum educator and archivist duties and responsibilities

Museum educator example responsibilities.

  • Manage revolving caseload of students with IEP team including initials, transfer placements, manifestation determinations.
  • Train and supervise employees and volunteers in collections protocols, cataloging, preparation, housekeeping, lab and field work.
  • Analyze prehistoric and historic cultural artifacts, including data entry for cataloging.
  • Develop digital materials, documents, PowerPoint presentations, lectures, and laboratory activities daily.
  • Design PowerPoint presentations enhancing educational environment.
  • Design PowerPoint presentations enhancing educational environment.

Archivist example responsibilities.

  • Create EAD and DACS compliant finding aids for new and existing collections.
  • Update online database with metadata on newly accession materials and implement new physical arrangement system for archival collections.
  • Develop a custom RDF metadata model for archiving and cataloging multimedia digital artworks in the library's digital asset management system.
  • Enter website content, adding basic HTML coding.
  • Use EAD for collection processing and organization of metadata.
  • Encode multiple finding aids in EAD including faculty biographical files.
  • Show more

Museum educator vs archivist skills

Common museum educator skills
  • Educational Programs, 15%
  • Art History, 11%
  • K-12, 9%
  • Public Programs, 8%
  • Outreach Program, 6%
  • Public Speaking, 6%
Common archivist skills
  • Archival Collections, 15%
  • Online Database, 11%
  • Archival Materials, 8%
  • Reference Services, 8%
  • Archival Research, 4%
  • Manuscript Collections, 4%

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