Docent Manual Museum of the Rockies 2017
THE MUSEUM OF THE ROCKIES
“One Place Through All of Time”
The Museum of the Rockies – interpreting the natural and
cultural history of the northern Rocky Mountain region.
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The construction of this facility was made possible through the
generosity of private foundations, businesses and individuals.
It is dedicated as a gift to the people of the region.
In celebration of Montana’s State Centennial, 1989
-- Plaque at the entrance of the Museum of the Rockies
MISSION STATEMENT
Museum of the Rockies inspires life-long learning in science, history, culture and art; advances knowledge through collections, research and discovery; and presents engaging, vibrant exhibits and educational opportunities. Museum of the Rockies brings the world to Montana and shares Montana with the world.
Museum of the Rockies
Montana State University
600 W. Kagy Blvd.
Bozeman MT 59717-2730
Information phone line: 406-994-2251
Website: museumoftherockies.org
MUSEUM OVERVIEW
The Museum of the Rockies is located at the geographic center of the Northern Rocky
Mountain region, a vast, sparsely populated land which includes Montana, Idaho, Wyoming
and portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Dakotas. Despite its relative isolation, the
Northern Rockies encompasses a significant evidentiary record of cultural and natural history,
unique to North America. Wrenching geologic processes including the creation and subsequent
draining of inland oceans, mountain building and glaciation have shaped the region's history
and influenced later development. This intensely beautiful place has served as a migratory
corridor and as a crossroads for the growth of life on the North American continent.
Life here began with primitive marine plants and animals, later dinosaurs, mammoths and
even grizzly bears; then to the migrating Paleo-Americans who traveled along the great ice-
free corridor into what is now central Montana; on to the rise of Native American peoples and
finally to the paths of the latter-day explorers such as Lewis and Clark, the miners, cattle
ranchers and settlers. Tangible evidence of the past abounds and the record is complete
enough to offer rich fields of study for scientists and humanists.
In 1957, the Museum of the Rockies was founded as a part of Montana State College (later Montana State University) to begin the study and interpretation of this extraordinary region. The Museum grew out of collaboration between a distinguished Montana physician, Dr. Caroline McGill, and the headof the history department, Dr. Merrill Burlingame. At its founding the Museumconcentrated primarily on cultural history, but within a decade the Board of Trustees voted toexpand. In 1967, the Museum formally amended its mission to include the study andinterpretation of the region's rich natural history.
The Museum of the Rockies is one of the largest natural history museums in the region with
94,000 square feet under roof. It includes the only planetarium with daily public shows ina tri-state area and has developed a fully interpreted Living History Farm on 11 adjacent acres. The Museum also has developed lasting partnerships with regional schools and libraries.
The Museum is distinguished by the quality of its services to the people of the Northern Rocky
Mountains, especially to the rural communities which are characteristic of this region. The
Museum's commitment to a productive research agenda is also widely recognized. Because of
its rural nature, the Museum has chosen to grow through partnerships, working regionally and
nationally with groups such as the Nature Conservancy, Yellowstone National Park, the Lewis
and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation and the Army Corps of Engineers. With the growing national and international reputation of its dinosaur fossil collection and research, the Museum is also forging international partnerships with sister dinosaur museums in Japanas well as successfully launching the Museum’s first international traveling exhibit, Growth and Behavior of Dinosaurs.
The Museum of the Rockies is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), a distinction achieved by less than five percent of the more than 35,000 museums nationwide. The Museum is also an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and afederal repository for fossils.
Today, the Museum of the Rockies is a college-level division of Montana State University and an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution. Students, faculty and visiting scholars use its collections and exhibits for classes, research and other programs. Some Museum curators teach on campus and some MSU professors hold appointments at the Museum. The Museum houses one of the world’s most important collections of North American dinosaur fossils. Visitors learn about startling new discoveries in dinosaur research, experience pioneer life at the Living History Farm, explore the regional history of the Northern Rockies, and journey to the stars in the planetarium.
Over160,000 visitors a year come to the Museum, making it the most visited indoor attraction in Montana. About one-third of the visitors are from out of state. The Museum is most well- known for its paleontology program. In the Siebel Dinosaur Complex, there are over 10,000 square feet of displays and hundreds of fossils. The Complex houses the Dinosaurs Under The Big Skyexhibit which showcases the Museum’s famous collection of North American dinosaur fossils discovered in and around Montana. Visitors to the Museum can see some of the rarest fossils in the world. The exhibit features dinosaur fossils and new research that have made headlines worldwide such as the discovery of 68-million-year-old soft tissue, blood cells and protein in a T-rex femur and the discovery of one of the first identified female dinosaurs in the world – an ovulating T-rex.
The Museum also offers a variety of educational programs for people of all ages including tours, classes, lectures, field tripsand special events. MSU students may pursue an undergraduate minor in Museum Studies through a cooperative effort between the Museum of the Rockies and the Department of History and Philosophy.
GOVERNANCE
The Museum of the Rockies is a college-level division of Montana State University, functioning with the approval of the Board of Regents of the Montana University System. The Museum’s Executive Director is appointed by the University President on the advice of the Museum of the Rockies, Inc. Board of Trustees and reports directly to the President. With the exception of Museum policies not covered by State of Montana regulations and the MSU Faculty and Staff Handbooks, the Museum is administered as a part of the campus system. The University assumes responsibility for providing utilities, building and grounds maintenance, budgeted appropriated State funds, management of governmental grants and contracts, personnel services, and all services normally provided for faculty, staff and programs.
The Museum of the Rockies, Inc (MOR, Inc) and Board of Trustees: MOR, Incis a Montana non-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) tax status under the Internal Revenue Code and is the fiduciary for all earned income, donated private funds, and investments, with the exception of those given to MSU to be held in trust for the museum. MOR, Inc is governed by a 21-member Board of Trustees which is elected by the membership of the organization and includes the President of the University and two MSU representatives appointed by the President. The Board of Trustees has entered into a formal agreement with Montana State University for the control of the use of the Museum's facilities and collections subject to MSU's rights of ownership. MOR, Inc is responsible for all non-State, non-governmental support for the museum, and has signed a formal lease for an annual payment to MSU in support of the payments to holders of the bonds which financed construction of the museum facility. MOR, Inc. also executes an annual grant agreement for private funds transferred to MSU in support of museum employee salaries. The Museum’s Executive Director acts as agent for the Museum of the Rockies, Inc.
National Advisory Board (NAB): Board members serve as ambassadors for the Museum of the Rockies in their respective communities, advance national awareness for the Museum, share their time and expertise with the Board of Trustees and museum staff, contribute to the Museum’s financial success and support capital projects. The NAB recommends candidates for board membership to the Board of Trustees for ratification.
Volunteer and Docent Boards: The Boards of the Volunteer and Docent Organizations of the Museum are elected by their memberships and function under the overall supervision of the Museum’s Executive Director. The Education Department provides management of the boards. The Volunteer and Docent Organizations operate under separate bylaws. A copy of the Volunteer Bylaws can be found at the end of this section; the Docent Bylaws are located at the end of the Docent Program section.
MUSEUM FACILITIES AND PROGRAMS
MOR is a happening place! In addition to permanent exhibits, Museum programs include changing exhibits, scientific and cultural lectures, special events, family days, adult classes, after school programs, summer camps, and an array of children’sprograms for babies, tots, and school-age groups. Three times a year (Fall, Winter and Summer), the museum publishes a calendar with descriptions and dates for all planned activities.
EXHIBITS: The Museum of the Rockies’ primary exhibit areas include four permanent exhibits: Landforms/Lifeforms (Early Earth history); Dinosaurs Under The Big Sky in the Siebel Dinosaur Complex; Enduring Peoples(Native American history) and regional history exhibits. The Museum also has over 6000 square feet of exhibit space for changing exhibits and hosts an average of three changing exhibits each year. On the second floor is the Martin Children’s Discovery Center and its exhibit, Explore Yellowstone, especially designed for visitors eight years old and younger. The outside exhibit area encompasses the Living History Farm, a 1890s Montana homestead, and its surrounding gardens and fields. The Docent Manual contains separate sections with exhibit descriptions and background information for the permanent exhibits as well as the Living History Farm.
FACILITIES: Facilities include the Taylor Planetarium, the Hager Auditorium and the Museum Store on the first floor in addition to the exhibit halls. The Redstart Classroom, Janke Board Room, Margaret Woods Volunteer Office, seminar room, and staff offices are located on the lower level. The auditorium, classroom, board room and seminar room can be rented. Other areas such as the lobbies, exhibit halls and planetarium can be rented but require special coordination. A museum floor plan map is located near the end of this section.
TAYLOR PLANETARIUM: The Taylor Planetarium is the only planetarium with public shows seven days a week in thetri-state area of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Over 2 million people have attended a show during their visit to the museum including 85% of schoolchildren on organized field trips. When the planetarium opened in 1989, its Digistar 2 projection system was state-of-the-art found in only a few other places in the United States. Over 20 years later, the facility and analog projection system had become obsolete and replacement parts and programming were difficult if not impossible to obtain. In 2012, the museum launched a $1.6 million fund-raising campaign, Building Bigger Skies, to fund a complete facility renovation, projection system upgrade, and new digital programming. In September 2012, the planetarium closed for the six-month renovation and reopened March 1, 2013.
The planetarium now uses the Digistar 5 projection system, one of the world’s most advanced technologies, and 5.1 digital surround sound. The state-of-the-art projection system allows visitors to experience the Universe in vivid colors, visual motion and brilliant displays of light. The planetarium has a 40-foot domeand 110 seats which recline at different angles depending on location within the planetarium.
Planetarium shows vary with seasons and are shown daily. Information on current programs and schedules is available in the seasonally issued MOR Calendar, the MOR website, and at the front desk in the lobby. Show lengths are about 30 minutes long. Unlike the older system, there are no laser shows.
MARTIN CHILDREN’S DISCOVERY CENTER: The Museum has reinvented the Martin Discovery Center. The center had always been a popular play area for children with a variety of themed activities to complement Museum exhibits. As part of the Museum’sfour-year capital campaign ending in 2009, the decision was made to lower the Lobby ceiling, expand the exhibit floor space on the second floor, and convert the former Loft Gallery to a permanent exhibit space for children. In 2010, the Museum opened the Discovery Center and its Explore Yellowstone exhibit, a hands-on look at the science and history of Yellowstone National Park geared towards infants through eight year olds.
Young visitors are encouraged to explore and follow signs to touch, smell, look or listen to Yellowstone features and creatures. Visitors can pump up a geyser, climb a fire tower, fish from the fishing bridge, set up a camp, dress up as a park ranger, or enjoy a miniature version of the Old Faithful Inn. An amazing array of Yellowstone wildlife constructed from recycled materials greets visitors at every turn. The center even has a Toddlers Camp play area for very young visitors. All children must be accompanied by an adult. The entire center is designed with children in mind including the restrooms which are scaled down for children. The center also has its own washer and dryer due to frequent laundering of center materials.
CHANGING EXHIBITS PROGRAM: The Museum’s Changing Exhibits Program focuses on “bringing the world to Bozeman.” This program also seeks a diversity of changing exhibits to complement permanent exhibits and encourage revisits to the Museum throughout the year. The program has grown in scope and scale over the years and now includes internationally renowned, high profile exhibits on nationwide tours. The Museum established the Changing Exhibits Fund to raise money to help offset the costs of these exhibits.
Over 50 changing exhibits have been displayed at the Museum in the past 15 years. Some of the most popular exhibits have been Tutankhamun: Wonderful Things from The Pharaoh’s Tomb (2007), Leonardo Da Vinci: Machines in Motion (2010), Frogs! A Chorus of Color (2011), Treasures of Napoleon (2012), Geckos: Tails to Toepads (2014) and Leisure & Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis near Pompeii (2016). Note: Treasures of Napoleon with its 250 objects was valued at over $20 million, the most valuable exhibit ever displayed at the Museum.
OPENING DOORS FOR MONTANA SCHOOL CHILDREN: Museum staff noticed a significant decline in school district memberships and class visits to the Museum due to school budget cuts. The staff developed a proposed auction item for an annual Museum fund-raising event to fund free museum admission for any Montana school group and a subsidy for out-of-area bus travel. Any “bid” for this auction item was actually a pledge of a contribution for the school children program. This proposal was overwhelmingly supported. Now, the Museum annually raises money for the Opening Doors for Montana School Children Fund which provides free admission to any organized school group in Montana including public, private, tribal and homeschool groups. Out-of-area school groups can apply for funds to help subsidize the cost of bus travel to the Museum.
VOLUNTEER PROGRAM: The Museum is blessed with a dedicated corps of amazing volunteers who really are the foundation of this institution. Volunteers and students have been integral to the success of the Museum since it opened its doors to the public in 1957. In 1972, the Museum formally established the Volunteer Organization. This organization has grown to over 275 volunteers who contribute over 25,000 hours each year. Volunteers conduct tours, staff activity carts, prepare fossils, assist in the Children’s Discovery Center, run shows in the Taylor Planetarium, help with security, put together mailings, serve on event planning committees, and answer phones. Each summer volunteer interpreters at the Living History Farm demonstrate the day-to-day activities of a Montana homestead in the 1890s.
Volunteers record hours that they have contributed to Museum activities in a three-ring binder located in the Volunteer Office. Each volunteer has a separate page to enter the hours spent helping with Museum activities. The annual total of volunteer hours is stunning and estimated to be the equivalent of at least 12 full-time staff positions. The Museum uses these totals to show the level of community support in marketing, grant applications and fund-raising campaigns.