I wrote one day:

>  No one on the list [PL] discusses things that I am familiar
>  with, such as how to write a better architectural description, or how to
>  type a certain style of house, or how to take better photographs, or how to
>  deal with a wimpy preservation board, or how to get the park rangers to give
>  a darn that you are updating the files on their cabins listed on the
>  national register instead of bringing them a timber wolf, etc.

Ken replied with:

>You should throw out questions on these topics on BP.
>I don't know how to do any of the above and would like to learn more about
>these skills. I do know what a timber wolf is.

I recently was talking with a friend of mine (who also graduated from
Colorado State Univeristy with an MA in history with a concentration in
historic preservation) and was lamenting the fact that we learned so little
in the course of our education.  The focus of our program was history (duh!
I should have figured that out sooner), but I think that we could have
learned so much more regarding old buildings themselves--building
techniques, mortar analysis (!), what to do when the foundation cracks and
the 50 year old electrical wiring starts to smoke -- real hands on stuff.
I know enough to call someone, but not enough to know what my options are.
(I know read, read, read! ask! ask! ask!) She stated that being able to
research, write historical and architectural descriptions was also an
important skill in the field.

Just wondering what people out there practicing in the real world of
preservation think about our little dicussion.


P.S.  Ken assures me:

>I think expertise happens to you, not something acquired . . . Expertise
>is what other people
>assign to your clouded world of ego, insecurity, and general state of BS.

Stetson

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