Dear Friends of the Museum of Geology,
Thank you for your past support of the Museum of Geology at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. To an enormous degree, your support through the PalMin Society has expedited so many programs which The Museum otherwise would have been unable to complete.
The year 2001 has been an auspicious year for the Museum. As you may know, I assumed the duties of the Director on February 1, 2001. The transition has largely been smooth and made with the cooperation of the fine Staff, Students, and Volunteers of the Museum of Geology. As I have said publicly, this Staff is one of the best in the World. As you can imagine, this change has had its stresses. Now that there is a Director, many of the administrative tasks are being be lifted from the already heavy burdens of the Staff. The major goals and objectives of the Museum of Geology will remain substantially unchanged, but will be modified to reflect the changing cultures of the Institution and the Museum.
The Museum of Geology has had as its unwritten motto, "Collection, Conservation, and Interpretation." This basic mission will remain unchanged as our students and staff address specific research problems by collecting fossils, minerals, and rocks to test their hypotheses in the field and laboratory. The specimens collected in direct support of on-going research and science education (and occasionally as salvage projects to preserve endangered specimens or localities) will be curated into the Museum Collections and conserved using the best available practices. These archived specimens, placed in the public trust for preservation far into the future, will be interpreted in many ways, including through publication, public presentations, and especially in theses and dissertations of our students (because education remains the primary mission of the Institution and he Museum). These goals remain substantially unchanged.
The Museum has in its trust several earth science collections. Foremost amongst these is the Vertebrate Paleontology Collection, a collection of approximately 250,000 specimens, curated by Dr. James E. Martin, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, including world class collections of mammals from the White River Badlands, terrestrial and marine reptiles from the Mesozoic of South Dakota and the Northern Great Plains, and Pleistocene collections from the Richmond Hill Gold Mine and Fossil Lake, Oregon. The Museum also holds in trust a world-class Mineral Collection, previously curated by the late Willard L. Roberts, a collection of 8,000 specimens from around the world, including the renowned Black Hills Mineral Collection. A third major collection held in trust, the Invertebrate Paleontology Collection, consists of approximately 30,000 fossil invertebrates including the world's largest fossil decapod collections consisting of fossil crabs, shrimp, and lobsters collected in the Black Hills region. This collection currently has no appointed Curator.
As Director of the Museum of Geology, it is my responsibility to see all collections are "Collected, Conserved, and Interpreted." This is an awesome responsibility, especially considering the limited resources with which we have to work.
As we move forward into the new millennium, we also recognize the importance of data storage, retrieval, and dissemination. The information contained in our minerals, rocks, and fossils, and the notes and photographs taken to document them in the field, form a unique and significant resource for our understanding of the history of the Earth. This history, based upon specimens and their documentation, will allow future citizens to accept, reject, or modify our hypotheses of the earth history of South Dakota and the Northern Great Plains and will lead to a clearer understanding of biostratigraphy, paleoecology, and evolution of South Dakota.
At the present time, we are concurrently working on multiple challenges of critical importance to the Museum, including: upgrading Museum safety and environment; upgrading exhibit interpretation and usability; a request for additional Old Gym space for student research and study areas, development of a new web site to use as a major interpretive tool in the Exhibit Hall, as a planning tool for tourists, and study tool for students; an initiative to partner with The Homestake Deep lab to develop a new off-campus, underground mineral exhibit, enhancement of the Museum Gift Shop to include web-based sales; development of a sustainable annual Budget; the consolidation and computerization of the Bump Library to make it more usable by students and visitors (with web-based delivery in the near future); partnering with Project SKILL to involve Native Americans in the Museum program; continued partnering with the Journey Museum to support our sister Museum; reevaluation of the Field Paleontology offerings to streamline their delivery and outreach for the Institution; a reevaluation of our advertising programs and budget; development of a new Museum of Geology Presentation for delivery to civic clubs and schools; development of a new Black Hills Geology Presentation for civic clubs and schools and web delivery; the appointment of a Curator of Mineralogy; and an upgrade of the half-time secretarial position to a full time position. All of this as we respond daily to the nuances of everyday museum duties...
Long term planning has been initiated by the Museum Staff. We are assessing what we are currently doing and how well; while attempting to identify what we can reasonably do with the limited resources we have. We are discussing subjects such as prioritizing the preparation of specimens already in hand; consolidating our Summer Field Paleontology program and perhaps partitioning the portions important for our graduate students from those important for Museum outreach to the public; the better articulation of collections, data, and exhibits; the importance of caring for all our collections and how to best conserve each of them; and how to best utilize emerging electronic technologies to manipulate data and to educate our constituencies.
So you see, our platter is very full and we need all the help we can get from our Friends of the Museum in the PalMin Society during this time of transition and reassessment. Your continued support is needed and your friendship is treasured. Working together we can assure a healthy and vibrant Museum of Geology far into the future.
Please consider continuing your support by making a generous contribution to the Museum of Geology.
Sincerely,
Gale A. Bishop. Ph.D.
Director
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