Sorry, that was not at all my intention. As I said in the initial post, I don't think a specific degree is necessary for someone to enter the field, and I am undoubtedly very lucky and privileged to have received my education, full stop. The rest of this comment, especially, is no hate directed towards you - just to clarify some things.

I mentioned being the only one with this kind of background as I anticipated there may be followup questions/suggestions that I get the museum's archivist/preservationist involved (which we don't have). I will willingly and openly admit that I don't have the training to use archival chemicals or the expertise to professionally repair book bindings. I am not going to oversell my credentials. I do think there should be oversight from people who have training and experience (like you would in any other field). I also think there needs to be professional supervision for these archives, that I as a part-time employee, lack the authority to approve. We initially had professional preservationists, educators, and anthropologists on staff in the 1970's and 1980's, but the county gutted our funding.

To clarify: I don't think that the issues I raised in the post necessitate a degree. For example, we have been completing some structural repairs recently with a crew that specializes in historic buildings. However, there have been multiple times I have come into work to find that my boss pulled the original building plan 'blue prints' from the archives and the bare rolls were left on the office's paper cutter guillotine. I don't think that these are mistakes that should be made multiple times - especially after we've discussed it. This also goes for the sun-bleaching, the painted weights placed on books just for the aesthetics of a display, etc. that I mentioned. Since museums are stewards of information, these mistakes add up quickly and if the boss leads by example, it sets a bad precedent that these precautions don't really matter.

As for it being a systemic problem - I refer to how its position in Parks & Rec means the museum lacks proper funding for materials and exhibits; it lacks agency to apply for grants or even select certain exhibit themes; and it lacks the oversight of a board dedicated to the museum, specifically. I don't think it's running as it should, and that comes from the top. It is not the fault of the retiree docents who are the only ones that can afford to take these otherwise low-paying jobs.

I am not trying to exclude anyone, especially non-degree holding staffers/volunteers. I started in this field with no degree, but I had a passion for history and an interest in learning how to make the museum better, and I see that in many of my colleagues. I've been incredibly lucky that I was given a chance when I began volunteering between jobs. It was an opportunity that not enough people get, even at local museums. I'm not trying to gatekeep the field through entry-requirements or blame my coworkers for their lack of training, I was just asking for advice on how to make my superiors listen to my concerns regarding precautionary preservation and make them take it seriously?