A museum is a cultural or educational institution that displays collections of artifacts or artwork to the public and in so doing fulfills a number of different functions. These institutions may be governmental or non-governmental, and they usually charge an admission fee to offset the costs of the operations. Museums may also be classified as a charitable corporation, in which case the money they make is not used to make a profit but invested back into the museum itself. They can also be privately owned or run by a family. Regardless of their type, all museums are dedicated to the preservation and display of objects for the benefit of the public.
Museums can be found all over the world, and they showcase a variety of topics. They can be dedicated to specific subjects, like a museum of science or art, or they can be more general in nature, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In addition, there are specialized museums for things like space exploration or archaeology.
Some museums are very well known to the world, like the Louvre in Paris. This museum is famous for housing an array of iconic art pieces, from the Mona Lisa to the Venus de Milo. Other renowned museums include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., and the National Gallery in London.
Other museums have a more economic function, such as promoting tourism in a particular city or region. This can be done through special exhibits or even by building a museum in a place that was historically important to the city, such as in Bilbao, Spain, where the Guggenheim Museum was built to revitalize the city.
Museums are also important as repositories of knowledge, expertise, and research that supplement the educational function of universities or other private centers. Studies have shown that museums can improve the learning of many disciplines, not just arts or history, and at all levels of education.
Although there are differences in how museums are defined, most major professional organizations agree that a museum must have an established collection and be open to the public. They can be a physical building, a virtual collection displayed on the internet, or even an archaeological site that is preserved for future generations. In this way, they are similar to libraries, but they differ in that the objects they house are primary tangible evidence of humankind and its environment.
The definition of a museum is an ongoing discussion within the museum community. Recent discussions have focused on the role of museums as socially engaged institutions and their responsibility to their communities. These discussions have also highlighted the importance of sustainability, inclusion, and participation in museums.