This virtual exhibit sponsored by the National Museum of Natural History asks the question: "Why are centuries-old natural history books vital to scientific research?" Using materials from the Rare Books Collection at the Smithsonian, the exhibit offers a variety of images dealing with natural history museums of the past to allow for the exploration of parallels and contrasts between the operations and methods of present-day natural history museums. Materials in the different sections of the exhibit deal with the preservation and maintenance of specimens and the methods by which a natural history museum might be organized. Finally, there is a section devoted to further reading on the history and evolution of natural history museums.