Accreditation

This is in answer to comments by John McIntyre and Velson Horie
concerning certification and in response to Jack Thompson.  While I
agree that the European  discussions on competence in conservators
has made progress (and I thank Steph Scholten for sending me the
Fulco papers which I will be distributing to BAACG (Bay Area Art
Conservation Guild) members here), there is much work to be done.
Mr.  McIntyre's assurance that the current British proposals will
not result in the problems Jack has mentioned cannot be derived from
success by the EU in this area of accreditation in other
professions.

One example should suffice to explain the complexity of the
situation.  Leonor Cruzeiro-Hansson of Heriot-Watt University
recently wrote in Nature (v. 398, 29 April, 1999:745) that Portugal
(only one of many other countries where this occurs) demands that a
Ph.D. awarded abroad must be 'recognized' before a researcher can
have a university job.  This includes payment of a fee, presentation
of copies of the degree and the thesis.  For the more important
status of "equivalence" of the degree, the applicant must have their
thesis re-evaluated by a panel of professors.  This is a process
which is undertaken in many countries with medical degrees, and
other professional qualifications. Theoretically this protects the
public from unqualified people trying to practice, but how it plays
out in practice, is, I think what Jack is most concerned with.

Niccolo Caldararo
Director and Chief Conservator
Conservation Art Service

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:89
                  Distributed: Thursday, May 20, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-12-89-007
                                  ***