So some back story; I graduated from college with BA in Social Science/History, I applied for a job titled museum curator helper. I thought that this would be my jumping off point and that I would be doing basic assistance stuff like dusting, organizing, and in general gaining experience and learning. This thought of mine was confirmed in the interviews when we went over a loose outline of the job. A few weeks later I get the job and actually begin work for the first time. This is where my trouble begins. There are no workers, curators, managers, directors, or other people in the museum; I am the only one. I have no experience with cataloging or tracking down exhibits or really any general curator work. I have been told to "run with it" and have only 2 days a week at 5 hours a day scheduled to work (being extra help) to do a full curators job. Please /r/AskHistorians, I need any advice, tips, sites, experiences, anything you can offer.
TL;DR Got a job out of college as museum curator helper, am now the curator with no experience, need advice.
While you might get insight here, I would recommend you go to the source, and ask for advice in /r/MuseumPros!
You are ahead of the game simply by having a degree. Many if not most local museums are run by well-meaning volunteers and completely-untrained staff. Do you have a board? They can be more work than they are worth, but they may be a source of volunteers - or the names of people who wish to volunteer. Volunteers are labor intensive - they require guidance and a lot of handholding, but given the few hours you have, it may be worthwhile to develop a core of several volunteers to help.
Do you a membership program? That, too, can be labor intensive, but members can be a source of volunteers and funding. Plan to provide something for membership - free entrance to the museum but also a newsletter - even if it is only every six months. And don't start a membership program unless you are prepared to send renewal notices, because people notice when an institution fails to contact them at least once a year. And have membership extend from a set time in the calendar regardless of when someone signs up. You can always offer "half-year" memberships to get people started if it is mid year for your membership calendar.
Cut and paste curatorial policies from existing institutions (the suggestion of going to the NPS site is excellent, but a search will yield others). Consider contacting your state museum and ask for help and for information about existing training programs. If you have empty gallery space, consider asking for traveling exhibits.
Is it possible to work with local school groups? That's always a good way to increase attendance and community support. Ask a local art class to create history-related art for a calendar - and then go to parents for funding.
Be prepared to fail. Most local museums are in a steady state of failure. That's OK. Make the most of the situation and recognize that no matter how much work, this won't be the Smithsonian. But the victories that can be had can be remarkable and a lot of fun.
Good luck!
Read the National Park Service Museum Handbook. A free link to the book(s) can be found here -http://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/handbook.html
Thank you all for your help. I am going to check out everything suggested, I now can at least feel like my head is above water.