Chapter 4 - The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview on the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) belongs to that generation of encyclopaedic museums with collections which span the earth and life sciences, archaeology and the fine and applied arts. It is the third largest museum on the North American continent, and Canada's most important institution, both in terms of collections and number of specialized staff. The collections are divided between 19 different curatorial departments. Documentation for the nine art and archaeology departments is processed by a centralized Registration Department, while the 10 science departments maintain independent records. The Art and Archaeology .collections, which presently number about 350 000 items, have been expanding at the rate of approximately 300 accessions annually. This means that about 1000 items are added to the collections each year.