Black Hills Institute has been creating, assembling and supplying displays and specimens for displays for more than a quarter of a century. Helping museums present well-prepared fossils in new and exciting, or life-like, ways is what we do. Many paleontological museums in North America, Europe, and Japan display fossils collected and/or prepared by us.

Black Hills Institute does not stop when a fossil is prepared. We can and have assembled full exhibitions from the floor up. We are familiar with various aspects of display technique and have a good idea how the public will react. Beginning with a concept or theme we can build an entire exhibition, whether ancient sea life, dinosaur extinctions and meteorite impacts, or mineralogy.

Black Hills Institute often fields inquiries regarding fossils which amateur collectors or landowners have discovered. Sometimes we are asked for advice, or 'how to...' involving removal or preservation of a fossil specimen. In other instances we will visit the site, assess its scientific or commercial potential and make recommendations to the landowner or discoverer (with landowner permission). Our expertise in evaluating fossils in the field allows us to fairly recommend whether it is worthwhile to proceed with an excavation. If a fossil is worthwhile we sometimes contract with the owner and/or the discoverer to pursue the fossil ourselves.

The staff at Black Hills Institute has many years experience identifying fossils and minerals of many types from worldwide locations. We are often asked to identify fossils in private collections and museums. Some specimens are readily identifiable - fossils that are commonly encountered in the commercial trade and are seen in most museum collections. Occasionally we encounter a fossil that cannot be identified to Genus and species. Some are poorly preserved or incomplete, others are rare and new to science. New species of fossils and minerals are discovered and reported every year.

Our years of experience and success with difficult fossils has brought us many custom preparation projects. Our lab is equipped to deal with a wide variety of fossil material ranging from minute spiny trilobites which must be cleaned under magnification to dinosaurs with bones so large that their size alone is a considerable problem. Several staff members have specialties in certain type of preparation, i.e. microscope, chemical, airbrasive, etc.

Since we began our extensive molding and casting projects in the mid-90's we have found many fossils for which there are good reasons to mold and cast. Generally these are exceptional specimens - extremely rare or extremely well-preserved. Sometimes casts are commercially marketable, especially where the originals are in high demand and expensive. Other specimens are molded and cast because of their high scientific interest, so that several researchers can examine them at the same time.

More than 25 years of work in the paleontological field have given us a vast network of suppliers for everything from glue to pneumatic tools, display cabinets and sign manufacturers. These materials and tools help to make our finished products what they are.

Black Hills Institute sometimes procures fossils for other institutions. Because we remain aware of sources and availabilities of many types of specimens we can locate those specimens needed to round out an exhibit or complete a research project.

Many Black Hills Institute fieldwork and laboratory activities have been documented using video and audio, as well as still photography, techniques. This material, along with other graphics and writings owned by the Institute, is available (through our licensing program) for commercial or institutional use. With the advent of the Internet and digital multimedia, much of the present and future media at the Institute is or will be available in digital formats suitable for high-quality printing, Web implementation, or CD-ROM applications.

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 - Molding & Casting
 - Mounting
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