A museum is an institution (public or private) that holds, conserves, and displays artifacts and other culturally significant objects. It is also a place that offers educational and public programs. Museums are places where the past and present intersect, and at their best they inspire, educate, and provoke people to think about their world.
There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes at museums. They have to manage their collections, keep up with research in their specialty areas (art or anthropology or science and technology or Egyptology), raise money to keep the museum going and collect new objects, and put on exhibitions for their visitors. They often have many different kinds of staff members who all need to work together to accomplish all these tasks.
This includes security staff, custodians and janitors, food service workers, maintenance crews, building managers, fundraisers, curators, registrars, and educators. Educators are the people who help make sure that all museum visitors get the most out of their experience at the museum and learn something about the museum’s collection. They can be teaching a class to a school group or leading a tour of the museum’s galleries for an adult program. They are also the ones who create and maintain the educational resources that many museums have on their websites.
Museums are also places that are often filled with visitors, and they need to be able to manage crowds of people while keeping them safe and providing them with a great experience. They also have to be able to communicate what they are all about in a way that is engaging and meaningful for everyone, including school groups and adults who visit for leisure or on field trips.
The word “museum” comes from the Greek for “contemplation.” Many people think of museum as an environment where they can be inspired by objects and that inspiration is still what drives lots of museum visitors. But museums can be inspirational in other ways, too.
Some museums have few or even no artifacts, but they still have a mission to share information with the public. Some examples are the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles or the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, both of which use stories and other means to share their messages. Museums are also inspiring in the ways they work to be more inclusive and tolerant of diversity. They are increasingly responding to the climate crisis by promoting sustainability and by exhibiting pieces that speak of our global interconnectedness. They are also supporting efforts to fight illicit traffic in cultural goods and prepare for emergencies to protect world culture in the face of natural and man-made disasters.