Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/234

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204
THE MUSEUM

from early morning till late at night, to do all that needs to be done. Such periods are usually followed by occasions of less strain. The staff, however, must be such that in times of emergency the work can be handled and in dull times there will be enough to keep all busy. The careful administrator will provide for the medium times an adequate force and will study the individuals in his employ so that he knows to whom to turn for extra help when he needs it, and also will keep on hand a large number of routine things that "we will do when we have time" to pass out to his assistants when dull times come. For these reasons it is very desirable that the telephone operator should understand stenography as well as typewriting because in times of stress, when the regular stenographer has all she can attend to, by going to the switchboard and sitting down beside the operator, the director can dictate letters or articles which can be written out in the intervals between calls.

As for the librarian, the need depends, of course, upon the size of the library and the number of visitors. There is little other work that can be accomplished by a librarian because of the necessity for silence. Cataloguing books, slides, photographs, cuts and possibly assisting the director in research work is about all that can