Private collections of museum curators

[Adolf Ceska]

Robin Leach wrote:

> Suppose I work for a museum "by day" and on Tenebrionidae,
> but go home at night and work on my collection of Dytiscidae.
> I have been working on dytiscids since I was an undergrad,
> but when I was hired, I was asked to work on tenebrionids.
> Can it be much simpler than that?

        Some museums forbid their curators to keep private collections.
They claim that curators should not compete with their own institutions.
I know one lepidopterologist who was asked to give up his collection of
butterflies (it was almost complete for that region) when he accepted a
temporary curatorial position in a museum.

Adolf Ceska, Victoria, B.C., Canada