Museum Natural History of Florence a social museum ante-litteram

1. Museum Natural History of the University
of Florence:
Communication strategies on social media
MWF2014: Museums and the Web
Florence / February 18-21
Alba Scarpellini
Head of communication & social media strategy
Museum Natural History – University of Florence

2. Grand Duke Peter Leopold of Lorraine was
established the Imperial and Royal Museum
of Physics and Natural History in 1775
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

3. …and it was
one of the first
scientific
museums to be
opened to the
public… a very
social museum
In the museum
it was
displayed the
entire world of
nature
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

4. Visitors proceed from the Earth
(mineralogy) to the Sky
(astronomy), passing through botany…
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

5. … zoology and
antropology…
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

6. …the botanical and anatomical wax models.
It was at once a site of collections and also a
place for research and for teaching.
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

7. The unity of nature referred to the
unity of knowledge.
It was an extraordinary success :
from 1784 to 1785 the Museum was visited by
7106 people …
about 2000 were females and the 84%
total visitors belonged to the “common
people”.
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

8. Today the great heritage of
artistic and natural specimens
(that are about 8 million) are
distributed in some historical
buildings in different areas of
Florence.
MNH is a complex system to
communicate…
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

9. Fortunately, new technologies are a
big help to the museum
communication
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

10. Since 2009,
Museum Educational Department
started to use web 2.0 technology
Educational website & multimedia
games
Projects with Regione Toscana
The Garden of Wonder
It „s a 3-D, multiplayer, online educational game. This game
allows players/learners to design, build, manage, and
develop a botanical garden, recovering green space
surrounded by a western city.
Explorers of Time
It‟s 2-D, online, multiplayer game . Immersed in ancient
times, classes playing this game get in touch with the world
of fossils.
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

11. Educational video & multimedia games
Project with :PORTALE
RAGAZZI.IT Ente Cassa di
Risparmio di Firenze
A video, "A museum to understand the nature",
introduces the children to the knowledge of the
“museum’s world”
Giglio & Fiorenza Games
Simple, online, flash-games
allows pupils to play toghter, and
reflect, on the theme chosen by
the teachers
Erbario
game
Skeleton
game
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

12. Young children have fun mixing
the elements that constitute a
human face: the overall
shape, the
eyes, mouth, nose, and hair.
Just an
example…
Perhaps Bitstrips
copied us 
Students get a “handson”, understanding
how diversity is
appearance because
of all the different
possibilities in
combining features; no
two people can ever
look alike.
The game, currently
used in the classroom
from three years, is
really a useful tool for a
project on human
biodiversity.
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

13. In 2008, with the exhibition Virtual
Renaissance – art in Second Life
and in Virtual Words, the MNH was
the first university museum in the
Europe to have an avatar on
Second Life
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

14. In 2012 with the exhibition
Dinosaurs in the Flesh:
science and art bring the
rulers of a lost world back to
life
The museum gained a special
mention from ICOM because it had
been able to engage users of all
ages with social networks
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

15. …and in 2013 with the event #invasionidigitali co-creation of
cultural value, a lot of people flooded the Museum allowing to
create a strong effect of engagement with the social
community

16. The MNH is a welcoming museum, you
can take pictures and videos and you
are invited to share
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

17. The
communication
on social media
is
successful, beca
use the posts
are capable of
creating a
dialogue
between users
and the museum
and among the
users
themselves
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

18. February 2014
The museum analyzes the impact of
communication on social media. There are many
useful tools to make the statistics…
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

19. Social media are userfriendly,
but you need to use skills
to make a good museum
communication
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

20. Unfortunately, in Italy, there are few museums that
have professionals with specific responsibilities for
media communication and marketing.
For this reason it’s important to invest in training
and give a proper professional qualification to those
already working in these areas
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

21. Work in progress
Website team
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21

22. We need to involve more people in the
activities of the museum.
We want people to discover, learn,
have fun, partecipate, think, grow,
share ideas...

23. Thanks for your
attention
Credit for photos:
Saulo Bambi, Giulia Bebi, Andrea
Gori , Alberto Mori & al.
Alba Scarpellini - MWF2014: Museums and the Web Florence / February 18-21