After investigating the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, city auditors determined the institution is falling short of tracking, protecting collections, and logging loaned items or artifacts.
Museum authorities told auditors they were aware of the issues and they are committed to tackling these problems, the city auditor said.
In its latest report, auditors dove into how DMNS tracks its 4.3 million items, concluding that the museum needs better collection tracking policies and stronger city oversight over its collections.
“Museum leaders welcomed our audit and gave us complete access to fully understand how they could improve their stewardship of scientific, cultural, and historical items,” Denver City Auditor O’Brien said. “By embracing the spirit of improvement at the museum, it will be even better positioned to serve the public who love to visit and learn.”
The first of four findings, auditors emphasized, was the museum’s process of overseeing accounts for all items in its collection.
“The museum does not have reliable, complete, or accessible information to adequately account for and manage all museum collections,” auditors said in its report.
The museum receives thousands of items, sometimes in donations, which contributes to processing and identification backlogs for items it has gathered for more than 126 years.
Auditors found that by the end of 2022, the museum held a backlog of 2.1 million unprocessed items in its collections. Much of those items are city-owned.
“We learned the museum does not have enough staff or reliable, complete, and accessible information to adequately account for and manage all museum collections,” the auditors said.
For instance, auditors evaluated 90 items in the museum, 15 each from the anthropology, archives, earth sciences, and zoology specialties and another 15 each from the spider and insect specialties.
“Some of these items could not be found,” auditors said.
O’Brien, the auditor, said the museum holds "high-value, irreplaceable items in its care," as well as lower-value but scientifically relevant items, such as donated jars of spiders.
"With a collection that big, knowing what they have and how to find the things that matter are important steps in appropriately taking care of the collections, some of which belong to the people of Denver,” he said.
In a second finding, auditors highlighted the need for more security protocols, saying in their report that “staff and volunteers may still have access to secure areas after leaving their positions at the museum, and the museum does not review user access to its collections management database systems.”
Auditors expressed concern for loan security safeguard practices.
Auditors also looked at what the museum has loaned to other museums, and vice versa. In one example, auditors said a zoological sample they requested had no digital documentation, but when paper records were found, they showed the item had been transferred to another museum 110 years ago.
In a third finding, auditors said the museum needs to create a comprehensive risk assessment for its emergency plan, before a fire or flood destroys over 100-year-old artifacts.
Lastly, auditors said the museum would benefit from stronger city oversight.
The operating agreement between the city and the museum hasn’t been fully reviewed or revised in 90 years, according to the audit.
Museum officials agreed to implement 35 of the recommendations, the auditors said.
“The museum is addressing the findings in the report and looks forward to working toward resolutions of the city’s recommendations,” a spokesperson said.
“Whether it is a single item like an animal specimen, or a donation of hundreds of insects, the museum should know what it has and where to find it,” O’Brien said. “There is more than 100 years of history and science stored at the museum, and it could be lost if neglected, forgotten, or stolen.”
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