Collections, Exhibits on Museum Web Site

The San Bernardino County Museum Web site has evolved into a virtual museum visit. In addition to providing information about museum programs, exhibits, hours, and directions, the site now hosts virtual exhibits, short videos, and access to artifacts and objects in the museum collections. The Web site expansion and development has been funded, in part, by grants from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The museum’s site, www.sbcountymuseum.org, currently contains more than 500 pages. It includes five on-line exhibits: “Moments in Time,” “Bark Beetles of the Southern California Forests,” “The Etiwanda Fan,” “Mimicry,” and “The Importance of Museum Collections.” A former museum exhibit, “Worth a Thousand Words,” can also be revisited through the web site.

Educators, including parents, can also find on-line educational exhibit guides to supplement museum visits, along with a biology page especially designed for kids.

The on-line collections database represents more than 38,000 digitized items from the museum collections, including objects and specimens from the anthropology, history, geological sciences, and biological science collections. Other searchable databases relate to information rather than objects: for example, visitors to the site can now search by name for burials at the pioneer Agua Mansa Cemetery.

“We continue to develop new activities aimed at our project’s purpose to provide an online database, educational curricula, and video presentations of the museum’s over two million collections in order to increase the knowledge about and use of these collections,” said Hortense Packer, the project’s manager. “Right now we are working on a virtual exhibit on hydroelectric power, and a collaborative project with the museum’s history and education divisions to provide virtual access to primary sources for use by educators. We’re also developing a web module about the abundance and distribution of sensitive and endangered species in San Bernardino County and a section to introduce teachers and students to natural habitats in Southern California. We’ll have field techniques information, excursions to points of interest in the Mojave Desert and the Great Basin, additional on-line exhibits, and a listing of all the state-recognized historical landmarks in San Bernardino County. Well over a dozen projects are currently in development.”

“A trip to the museum’s web site isn’t a substitute for a museum visit,” said Robert McKernan, museum director. “Instead, it is a way to enrich the experience by allowing visitors to explore their cultural and natural history in more depth. It is also a great way for teachers, students, and families to get some background before they visit the museum and our historic sites in Yucaipa, Redlands, Colton, Chino, and Rancho Cucamonga.”

The San Bernardino County Museum is at the California Street exit from Interstate 10 in Redlands. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays and holiday Mondays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $6 (adult), $5 (student or senior), and $4 (child aged 5 to 12). Children under five and Museum Association members are admitted free. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.sbcountymuseum.org.

The San Bernardino County Museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. If assistive listening devices or other auxiliary aids are needed in order to participate in museum exhibits or programs, requests should be made through Museum Visitor Services at least three business days prior to your visit. Visitor Services’ telephone number is 909-307-2669 ext. 229 / TDD/TTY: (909) 792-1462.