Smithsonian

Collections

Smithsonian collections total more than 155 million artworks, artifacts, and specimens, the largest such holdings of any museum complex in the world. The National Museum of Natural History accounts for more than 148 million of these, mostly scientific specimens, the single largest component being its invertebrate zoology collection of over 49.8 million specimens. About half of the Natural History collection is stored at the Smithsonian's Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. The Smithsonian Institution Libraries hold roughly 2.1 million volumes, and the Smithsonian Archives hold about 162,000 cubic feet (4,600 m) of archival material. Only a small fraction of the collections—estimated at less than one percent—is on public display at any given time, with the remainder maintained for research; the Collections Search Center makes 9.9 million digital records available online.