The Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum, Golden, Colorado

摘要

These days it appears that many colleges and universities are prepared to jettison their museums because they need the space for something else, or because the museums are not revenue generators, or because the financial burden of paying for staff to manage them properly has been deemed onerous. My recent visit to the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum was refreshing, as the museum is an exception to all of these unhappy trends. The museum collection was founded in 1874 by Arthur Lakes, the first curator, and since that time it has grown remarkably. The collection is located on the School of Mines campus in Golden, and occupies a wonderful large building that is just three years old. Inside, it is spacious, bright and inviting. It is so spacious, in fact, that the display cases are generously spaced apart and one gets the immediate impression that the display area could accommodate twice as many exhibits without appearing at all crowded. At the rate that specimens are being acquired, mostly by amazing donations and loans from supporters of the museum, more display cases may very well have to be added, and soon.