The San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands will join with the Google Cultural Institute to make the cultural heritage of inland Southern California easily available worldwide.
“This partnership between the San Bernardino County Museum and Google Cultural Institute provides a significant opportunity for our county to share our culture and history with the region, the nation and throughout the world. I am proud our county is joining with the Google Art Project to allow more people to share in the wonders of our county. It is my hope that this online platform can be utilized by teachers and parents across the county and the region to educate our students about the diverse culture and rich history of San Bernardino County,” stated Third District Supervisor James Ramos.
Google has partnered with hundreds of museums, cultural institutions, and archives from 40 countries to host the world’s cultural treasures online. Through their Cultural Institute, partner museums can upload high quality images from their collections. In addition, Google will develop “street views” inside the museum galleries to offer virtual tours of museum exhibits.
According to the Cultural Institute, “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. The Cultural Institute is an effort to make important cultural material available and accessible to everyone and to digitally preserve it to educate and inspire future generations. We believe that the Cultural Institute can be an especially useful way to engage students, scholars and teachers through innovative and interactive learning.”
“Google’s project complements the mission of the San Bernardino County Museum,” said Robert McKernan, museum director and project liaison with Google, “and a member of the Google team has already visited our museum. Our collections are of worldwide significance, and this partnership will help spread the word, not only about the cultural richness and diversity of our county and surrounding regions, but about the educational and research opportunities offered through our museum.”
The partnership was approved by a vote of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors at their meeting on February 11. Arrangements for the Google team to start incorporating the museum and its collections into the Google Art Project will follow.
“Telling the whole story of our region is a vital part of our Countywide Vision,” said Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales. “This is not only an educational partnership that will open our museum to the Internet frontier, it is a partnership that will help highlight our rich history and promote the treasure that is the County of San Bernardino.”
The San Bernardino County Museum is at the California Street exit from Interstate 10 in Redlands. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $10 (adult), $8 (military or senior), $7 (student), and $5 (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 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.