2026 EDITION NOW AVAILABLE! ORDER TODAY!

The Definitive Resource on Museums in America for over 50 years.

A 'must have' tool for navigating modern museum and cultural institution landscapes

Available in Print or Online

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WHY OMD

The Official Museum Directory serves as the industry’s most trusted repository of cultural institution data. Mapping over 15,000 institutions across 87 specialized classifications, OMD provides access to the decision-makers shaping America’s cultural landscape. For academic, public, and corporate libraries, OMD is an indispensable reference tool—equipping patrons, researchers, and students with uncompromised, authenticated industry data they cannot find anywhere else.

2026 EDITION AVAILABLE NOW - ORDER TODAY!

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2025 EDITION - SPECIAL INVENTORY SALE!

(while supplies last)

OMD Printed Book - 2025 (55th) Edition -

OMD Printed Book - 2025 (55th) Edition -

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$350.00
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Product Overview:

  • The museum field’s most established reference — a trusted resource for professionals, researchers, and industry suppliers for over 50 years
  • Covers nearly 14,858 museums across all 50 states, including art museums, history museums, zoos, aquariums, historic sites, science centers, arboretums, planetariums, and more
  • Institutional listings include personnel, operating details, and contact information
  • Cross-indexed and easy to navigate — locate institutions by name, location, or museum type
  • Includes the comprehensive Products & Services Guide, connecting museum buyers with industry suppliers across categories such as exhibit design, insurance, lighting, museum planning, and shipping & storage
  • A practical tool for prospecting, networking, and outreach across the museum community
  • Long shelf life and strong pass-along readership — a reference that stays in use well beyond publication

HOW DOES OMD HELP MUSEUMS?

Connect

Foster collaboration by providing the tools for museum professionals to locate peer institutions, identify key contacts, and build relationships across the U.S. museum community.

Educate

Support research and learning by serving as the go-to reference for students, academics, and library patrons seeking broad, reliable data on America's cultural institutions.

Discover

Strengthen the visitor experience by helping museum suppliers, exhibit designers, and industry partners find and connect with the institutions they serve — so museums can keep doing what they do best.

HOW IS OMD USED?

PLACES: LOCATE & UNDERSTAND

EXPLORE Find any of nearly 15,000 museums and cultural institutions across all 50 states. From major art museums and natural history museums to historic sites, zoos, aquariums, science centers, and more. Locate by institution type, state, or city to quickly zero in on the right institutions.

PEOPLE: IDENTIFY & CONNECT

CONNECT Reach the right person at any institution with contact information for more than 22,543 personnel. Whether you're looking for a director, curator, development officer, or museum shop manager, OMD gives you the name, title, and contact details you need to make the connection.

DATA: RESEARCH & UNDERSTAND

DISCOVER Go beyond the basics with rich institutional profiles covering collection categories, attendance figures, founding year, hours, admission prices, facilities, and current activities. Whether you're benchmarking peer institutions, scoping a market, or building a prospect list, the data is already there.

WHO USES OMD?


MUSEUM PROFESSIONALS AND DECISION MAKERS

The directory is the industry standard for identifying and contacting key personnel within the museum field.

Key Roles: CEOs, Directors, Curators, Finance Managers, and Marketing Directors.

Specialized Staff: Museum Shop Managers, Development Officers, Archivists, Librarians, Educators, and Facilities Managers.

Use Cases: Identifying institutions with similar characteristics or finding specific professionals for collaboration and networking.

RESEARCHERS, FACULTY, AND STUDENTS

The directory serves as a definitive reference for those requiring comprehensive, verified data on U.S. cultural institutions.

Academic Use: Students and professional researchers use it to find detailed institution profiles, including collection categories, attendance, and operating details.

Library Patrons: Libraries provide access to the directory as a reliable tool for fact-checking and historical research.

MARKETERS AND INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS

For businesses that provide goods or services to museums, OMD is an essential prospecting resource.

Targeted Outreach: Marketers use the database for fundraising campaigns and new product introductions.

B2B Connection: Suppliers use both the print and online versions to locate institutions that match their specific product niche (e.g., conservation, exhibit design, or storage).

OMD BY THE NUMBERS

PLACES

Locate and learn more about 14,792 museums and related institutions in the U.S. including...

7,192 History Museums/Historic Sites

2,152 Art Museums/Galleries

239 Science/Technology Museums

238 Children's Museums

4K+ other specialty museums such as railroad, aviation/aeronautics, firefighting, sports museums, as well as national parks, aquariums, zoos, and more cultural centers.

PEOPLE

Identify leadership and others serving America's Cultural Institutions: 22,543 personnel assignments in roles including...

7,873 Directors/CEOs

2,108 Curation Professionals

670 Business/Finance Officers

1,028 Museum Shop Managers

457 Collections/Exhibits

519 Operations/Facilities

DATA

Learn about America's cultural institutions with rich data fields including:

Institution Type: e.g., 1) Historical Society Museum: housed in an 1860 farmhouse. 2) Naval History Museum: housed in the former Breech Mechanism Shop of the old Naval Gun Factory.

Collections: e.g., 1) firefighting history & equipment; fire trucks & apparatus; uniforms; photographs; documents, 2) railway history; scale model replica of the railway route; photographs; railway memorabilia

Activities: e.g., 1) guided tours; lectures; concerts; docent program; participatory exhibits. 2) art classes; lectures; permanent & temporary exhibitions; jazz concerts; luncheon series.

Facilities: e.g., 1) 8,000 sq. ft. exhibit space; 90-seat auditorium; educational facilities. 2) 44,000 sq. ft. exhibit space; 166-seat planetarium; classrooms; theater.




CONNECTIONS

Reach out to colleagues, leadership, or support staff at America's museums:

30 Assignment/role types including Director/CEO, Business/Finance, Facilities/Operations, Collections Management; Museum Shop Manager and more...

Museums in all 50 states and the US Territories offer immersive learning experiences. They provide access to knowledge in every field, presenting complex ideas in engaging and interactive ways for students and lifelong learners.

Museums indexed under 87 categories including Arts and Crafts Museums; Herbaria; Wildlife Refuges and Bird Sanctuaries; Comedy Museums; Aquariums; Marine Museums and Oceanariums; Arboretums and more.

40,400 Points of Contact: phone numbers, email addresses, and websites

18,551 Addresses (Physical and Mailing)