Big and small museums alike have adopted Pinterest as a new way to show off their collections. We have selected a few museums of each type to give you an idea of how they are using Pinterest. Take these ideas and modify them to fit your own collection and specific target population.

History

• National Museum of American History, Smithsonian (Washington, D.C.)

Several of the Smithsonian's museums are using Pinterest, and the National Museum of American History provides a feeling of Americana as you view boards devoted to lunch boxes, quilts, and First Ladies fashion.

• Postal Museum, Smithsonian (Washington D.C.)

For anyone who is fan of mail, this Pinterest page is for you. Check out this postal themed board on Hindenburg and Titanic's disasters!

• McKinley Presidential Library and Museum (Canton, OH)
• Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust (Los Angeles, CA)

The Difference of A Single Day tells the story of young girl, Katy Haber, who miraculously escaped the Holocaust, and her journey to find out what happened to her parents. This board serves as an example of using Pinterest to showcase a memorable exhibit.

Regional and Local History

• Hoboken Museum (Hoboken, NJ)

Although you probably have never really heard of Hoboken, New Jersey unless you are a fan of the TV show, Cake Boss, the Hoboken Museum's pin informs you that the first Oreos ever were sold in Hoboken. This example shows how a commonly searched for item can direct traffic to your museum's Pinterest account and bring awareness to what else in your museum.

• Siouxland Heritage Museums (Sioux Falls, SD)

Their Things to Do board gives you a glimpse into many of the hands-on activities available for educators from the museum. Who wouldn't want to want their students to experience making their own candles or butter?

• White River Valley Museum (Auburn, WA)

This small museum and farm has a great tagline: Ordinary People, Extraordinary History. Finding their Pinterest boards makes me want to visit a museum that I may have never head of otherwise.

• Evansville Museum of Arts, History, and Science (Evansville, IN)

It is also a wise idea to pick an informational username or id to help people locate your Pinterest account. This museum makes a bold claim with www.pinterest.com/bestmuseumever.

• West Baton Rouge Museum (Port Allen, LA)

Let people see a glimpse of some of your exhibits currently on display at your museum.

• Chicago History Museum (Chicago, IL)

The Behind the Scenes board is a great way to let people see how exhibits are put together and what really goes on behind closed doors at museums.

Art

Many art museums are represented on Pinterest. Some of them are well-known. Others are not, but Pinterest is helping them share the jewels of their collections.

• Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, NY)
• Archives of American Art, Smithsonian (Washington, D.C.)
• Currier Museum (Manchester, NH)
• The J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
• Indianapolis Museum of Art (Indianapolis, IN)
• Andy Warhol Museum (Philadelphia, PA)
• High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA)

This famous Southern museum highlights its staff with its board, The High Life.

• Walters Art Museum (Baltimore, MD)

Have you ever wanted to select what goes into an exhibit? Walters Art Museum is doing just that with its Public Property Exhibition in which the public chooses the theme and the pieces to display. This year's theme is Creature, and is using Pinterest to allow the public to select which creature feature movie will be shown at the closing of the exhibit.

Science and Nature

• American Museum of Natural History (New York City, NY)
• National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium (Dubuque, IA)
• Evergreen Museum (McMinnville, OR)
• San Diego Space and Air Museum (San Diego, CA)
• Houston Museum of Natural Science (Houston, TX)

Some museums do not want you to take pictures. This is not the case at this museum which encourages visitors to take photos, share them with Instagram, and tag the museum. Then, the museum's favorites are pinned to Pinterest.

Children and Teens

Most of the children's museums on Pinterest have adopted a share creative ideas and activities approach, but have overlooked displaying content from their own collections. These museums chose to use more of a blended approach balancing content.

• Eric Carle Museum (Amherst, MA)
• Children's Creativity Museum (San Francisco, CA)
• Mid-Michigan Children's Museum (Saginaw, MI)

This museum does a fabulous job pinning its events, such as Count Me In- Disability Awareness Program.

Ethnic, Race, or Nationality

• Pequot Museum (Mashantucket, CT) Considered the largest Native American museum in the world, this museum use Pinterest to highlight the contributions of Native Americans past and present.
• Tubman Museum (Macon, GA)
• Mexic-Arte Museum (Austin, TX)
• Asian Art Museum (San Francisco, CA)
• Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York City, NY)
• Contemporary Jewish Museum (San Francisco, CA)

Special Interest

There is a museum for everyone, and Pinterest is a way to show others what you like.

• Kentucky Derby Museum (Louisville, KY)
• Fight Museum (Las Vegas, NV)
• National Building Museum (Washington, D.C.)
• USS Hornet Museum (Alameda, CA)
• Robert Lewis Stevenson Museum (St. Helena, CA)
• Dennison Depot Railroad Museum (Dennison, OH)
• San Francisco Film Museum (San Francisco, CA)
• Crime Museum (Washington, D.C.)
• National Cowboy Museum (Oklahoma City, OK)
• National Cowgirl Museum (Fort Worth, TX)