Many people have a hobby that involves collecting things, e.g. stamps, postcards or antiques . In the 18th and 19th centuries wealthy people travelled and collected plants, animal skins, historical objects and works of art. They kept their collection at home until it got too big or until they died, and then it was given to a museum. The 80 000 objects collected by Sir Hans Sloane, for example, formed the core collection of the British Museum which opened in 1759.
The parts of a museum open to the public are called galleries or rooms . Often, only a small proportion of a museum’s collection is on display. Most of it is stored away or used for research. A person in charge of a department of a museum is called a keeper . Museum staff involved in the care and conservation of items are sometimes called curators .
Many museums are lively places and they attract a lot of visitors. As well as looking at exhibits , visitors can play with computer simulations and imagine themselves living at a different time in history or walking through a rainforest. At the Jorvik Centre in York , the city’s Viking settlement is recreated, and people experience the sights, sounds and smells of the old town. Historical accuracy is important but so also is entertainment. Museums must compete for people’s leisure time and money with other amusements. Most museums also welcome school groups and arrange special activities for children.
In Britain, the largest museums are the British Museum , the Science Museum , the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum . Museums outside London also cover every subject and period. Homes of famous people sometimes become museums, such as the house where Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon .
The first public museum in the US was the Charlestown Museum in South Carolina, founded in 1773. The largest is the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, a group of 14 museums. The most popular of these is the National Air and Space Museum . Some US museums are art museums. Many describe a period of history. In Gettysburg , Pennsylvania, for example, a museum explains the Civil War and gives details of the battle of Gettysburg. Halls of Fame are museums that honour people who have been outstanding in a certain field, e.g. baseball or rock music.
National museums receive money from the government but not enough to cover their costs. Museums usually have a shop selling books, postcards and gifts, and often a café. Their profits help to fund the museum. Some museums have the support of a commercial sponsor. In small museums only a few people have paid jobs, and the rest are volunteers, called docents in the US, who lead tours and answer visitors’ questions.