Research Project on the communication strategies in the Italian Museums of Earth sciences

The transmission of knowledge is the ontological reason of any museum institution. It is realized through the conservation, study and exhibition of objects (as much artworks as objects) in a given space.
Classifying according to a specific logical criterion to display the collections is equivalent to communicate a message. The objects themselves carry the message, as signs that mean something else, but the connotation is also a result of the exhibition tools. In other words, "the medium is the message”. The museum communication uses a syncretic language, characterized by a plurality of different codes (verbal, visual, material and topological) that contribute to the creation of a complex message, addressed to a possible user. However, it is the nature of the latter that determinates the choice of the communication strategy.

Starting from these considerations, the Museum Service has conducted a pilot survey, thanks to the internship of Dr. Maddalena Rinaldi, on the communication strategies adopted by Earth science museums members of the all'ANMS (Associazione Nazionale Musei Scientifici - National Association of Science Museums), being the association a fundamental reference for the scientific museology in Italy.
Communicating a cultural message in a museum of science, directed at the general and / or specialized public, involves a careful study of the curatorial choices, which were object of the analysis.
The research, in the initial phase, studied only those members responding to the ANMS categories of GE (mono-disciplinary natural history museums of geology and / or paleontology) and MI (mono-disciplinary natural history museums of mineralogy and / or petrology). But going on with the study, it was clear that the reality was different as many of the museums could not fall only in one category because they have a multidisciplinary nature.

For this reason it was decided to include in the study all those museums that exhibit at least one collection among geological, palaeontological and mineralogical ones. In case of multi-disciplinary museums, curators were explicitly asked to assess only these kind of collections.

After identifying possible indicators of the “communication”, it was realized a questionnaire to be submitted to chosen subjects identified in each museum (curator, and / or director, and / or museum staff).
Following you can find a summary of the research, which is available in the complete version on the website of the Environmental Education Service, in the section dedicated to internships.

The investigation “Communication strategies of Earth sciences museums" could be extended to other museums included in the Repertory of the Italian museums of Earth sciences by collecting data through the questionnaire, to be sent to ISPRA (fax: 06/50074072, e-mail: oreste.albuzzi@isprambiente.it)

THEMATIC AREAS INVESTIGATED

1. VISUAL COMMUNICATION
2. ORAL COMMUNICATION
3. COMMUNICATION PRINT
4. COMMINCATION INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA
5. COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATED WITH EVENTS
5. ADVERTISING