Open Forum

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

Hello my fellow Texan!

I would call them Visitor Experience or Visitor Services Associates, or something like that. Our docents are volunteers, so I think that aspect could add to the confustion even more. I do think all of the jobs you mentioned fall into the visitor services realm, however, so that should cover them.

Good luck! All of our volunteers were called docents for years until I created new titles for different areas. It's hard to get the staff to change, but I bet you can do it!



------------------------------
Laura Eggert
Volunteer & Visitor Services Coordinator
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum
Austin TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

At every site I have ever worked (I've been in the field for about 40 years) "docent" refers to a volunteer position who welcomes guests, does tours, helps with education programs, etc. I've never heard it referred to a paid staff member.
I have seen "Gallery Educator" used for part time staff in the galleries interpreting and giving tours. 
We don't have those sorts of positions where I currently work.

------------------------------
Lauren T. Furey
Manager of Ticketing
Preservation Virginia
Newport News VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2022 08:10 AM
From: Laura Eggert
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello my fellow Texan!

I would call them Visitor Experience or Visitor Services Associates, or something like that. Our docents are volunteers, so I think that aspect could add to the confustion even more. I do think all of the jobs you mentioned fall into the visitor services realm, however, so that should cover them.

Good luck! All of our volunteers were called docents for years until I created new titles for different areas. It's hard to get the staff to change, but I bet you can do it!



------------------------------
Laura Eggert
Volunteer & Visitor Services Coordinator
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum
Austin TX

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

Sounds right. I know my paternal grandma was a docent at the University of Pennsylvania history museum and she did do tours for visitors to the museum.

------------------------------
Miranda Goldstine
Student
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2022 08:51 AM
From: Lauren T. Furey
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

At every site I have ever worked (I've been in the field for about 40 years) "docent" refers to a volunteer position who welcomes guests, does tours, helps with education programs, etc. I've never heard it referred to a paid staff member.
I have seen "Gallery Educator" used for part time staff in the galleries interpreting and giving tours. 
We don't have those sorts of positions where I currently work.

------------------------------
Lauren T. Furey
Manager of Ticketing
Preservation Virginia
Newport News VA

Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2022 08:10 AM
From: Laura Eggert
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello my fellow Texan!

I would call them Visitor Experience or Visitor Services Associates, or something like that. Our docents are volunteers, so I think that aspect could add to the confustion even more. I do think all of the jobs you mentioned fall into the visitor services realm, however, so that should cover them.

Good luck! All of our volunteers were called docents for years until I created new titles for different areas. It's hard to get the staff to change, but I bet you can do it!



------------------------------
Laura Eggert
Volunteer & Visitor Services Coordinator
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum
Austin TX

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

When I worked in Missouri State Parks, the full-time and part-time staff who who performed the duties you described in park and historic site visitor centers carried the title "Interpreter".

------------------------------
John Cunning
Security Guard, Museum of Art and Archaeology
Columbia, Mo.
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

We always considered docents as volunteer tour guides. What you describe is pretty much visitor services attendents?

------------------------------
Evelyn Fidler
Registrar
Kings Landing Corporation
Kings Landing Hist S NB
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

Thank you everyone for the insight. It's interested to hear that "Docents" are consistently volunteer workers.
Our museum developed a volunteer corps in the late 70s that facilitated school tours. Over time, those positions became paid and roles with expanded responsibilities. They have also been traditionally managed by the museum's Education Officer.

My vision would be to have separate Visitors Services and Museum Interpreter teams to distinguish roles clearly. The reality is that everyone has to crossover and work as a team. Especially, during our major events.
It is interesting how much institutional culture sticks over time, and how much work it takes to change the lexicon in our minds.
Thanks again, René

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

The word itself  means to teach but we have encountered a few  issues with the term at the public university where I work so we had to rename our docents as gallery guides and our volunteers as museum volunteers.

------------------------------
Miriam Machado
Director of Education
Frost Art Museum
Florida International University
3053481808




Miami FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2022 11:17 AM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Thank you everyone for the insight. It's interested to hear that "Docents" are consistently volunteer workers.
Our museum developed a volunteer corps in the late 70s that facilitated school tours. Over time, those positions became paid and roles with expanded responsibilities. They have also been traditionally managed by the museum's Education Officer.

My vision would be to have separate Visitors Services and Museum Interpreter teams to distinguish roles clearly. The reality is that everyone has to crossover and work as a team. Especially, during our major events.
It is interesting how much institutional culture sticks over time, and how much work it takes to change the lexicon in our minds.
Thanks again, René

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

We have a team of paid part-time staff called Museum Educators who lead a similar range of duties - from being gallery aides, to facilitating tours of the exhibitions and offsite in our communities, outreach, working the visitor services desk, etc. Best of luck on this!

------------------------------
Hana Squires
City Tours Manager & Accessibility Coordinator
HistoryMiami Museum
Miami FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

Hi René,

When I am in need of a different take on a word, I go to WordHippo.com to get the ideas flowing. If you haven't seen their alternatives for the word "docent," maybe this will spark some ideas? I find this site to be a rabbit hole worth my time and consideration.

https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/another-word-for/docent.html

------------------------------
Tania Marien
Independent Educator
Riverside, CA
www.taniamarien.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------

Although it is more common for docents to be unpaid, I've worked at another museum where paid staff held the title 'docent.' At my current museum, we bifurcate the roles that you describe into Educator and Guest Services Agent. At the last museum I worked at, we used Interpreter and Visitor Services Representative.

------------------------------
Claire White
Educational Programs Manager
The Mob Museum- National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement
Las Vegas NV
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-25-2022 02:09 PM
From: Rene Ballesteros
Subject: "Docent" as a museum title

Hello all,

Our Museum has used the term "Docent" to describe our part time staff.
However, they do much more than just give tours. They also gallery host, help with inventory, work the admissions counter, facilitate activities and other duties as assigned.

What term do you use for your staff that is inclusive of this range of duties and a more accurate description of their positions?

FYI, we do not have the team size to split into specific roles, and the word "Docent" has been used so long that it is ingrained in our museum culture. We would like to change that.

Thank you in advance for your insight and experiences.

------------------------------
René Ballesteros
Community Engagement Officer
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg, TX
------------------------------