User:Dominic/Cultural institutions

A gallery in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Edward Hau, The Study of Italian Art, 1860.)

Cultural institutions are institutions which collect, preserve, organize, and interpret and cultural heritage knowledge. Typically, the term is synonymous with the three major categories of institutions represented by the acronym "LAM," for libraries, archives, and museums. However, it may also be used more broadly to refer to any of a number of organizations which promote culture and learning, especially historical societies, art galleries, zoos and aquariums, observatories, theaters, parks and botanical gardens, orchestras, historic sites and monuments, and potentially other scientific, religious, or academic institutions.

Characteristics

Cultural institutions usually consist of collections, exhibits, or both. Most libraries have circulating collections of published material; most archives preserve unique historical records for research; and most museums have exhibits which may incorporate objects from a collection. Traditionally, all cultural institutions have been physical spaces in which patrons visited, for example, a reading room or gallery, but cultural institutions are increasingly engaging their communities online and through social media. Some modern cultural institutions are entirely digital enterprises.

Cultural institutions are predominantly, though not necessarily, non-profit or public institutions. Cultural institutions are commonly driven by institutional mission, and professionals in the field typically adhere to similar sets of values and codes of ethics established by professional organizations. Because the various types of cultural institutions have different methods and are often directed at different audiences, the defining quality they share is their approach to information. As a field, cultural institutions are concerned with the enrichment of learning and the arts in society. In contrast to other institutions of learning, like universities, cultural institutions generally focus on the sharing of knowledge to the public or subset of the public, rather than offering formalized education or producing scholarship. In the study of cultural institutions, their role is commonly articulated as "to ensure that our collective memory is preserved and made possible to future generations."

Role in society

Visitors inside the Minneapolis Central Library.