Les publics au coeur du Musée

Abstract

For a long time, university-based museums have given priority to a public of students and researchers who have already acquired a minimum of culture in the fields in question: for example, engineers at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in Paris, or medical students for the anatomy collections housed in Universities. The conditions in which these-often numerous-publics have been received has allowed them to develop research projects and consider the historical collections as material for innovation. Nowadays, university museums are faced with a dual demand: that of researchers wishing to have access to premises suited to the consultation and study of the collection, which has led to the creation of new tools, 'visitable reserve stores', which also group together the restoration workshops or the indispensable photo laboratory; and that of the 'public at the large' whose general knowledge is often weaker in the field in question and who wish to discover a pleasant place equipped with the appropriate educational systems. Since many university museums were set up on historical sites, there is often a need to devise and complete a general renovation project that recreates a whole new exhibition design while preserving 'the spirit of the place'. Within the institution's walls, however, human mediation remains irreplaceable in science museums where 'demonstrators' can set the instruments and machines in operation. Outside its walls, 'knowledge screens', and in particular the Internet, are remarkable tools in providing a maximum of people with access to information on the collection. A few examples will be developed to illustrate this idea ,while not concealing the operational problems faced by museums which, for the most part, do not have the level of management autonomy required to deal with the legitimate expectations of the broader public.

Durante muito tempo, os museus universitârios deram prioridade aos estudantes e aos investigadores, que sâo por natureza visitantes minimamente informados nos dominios de especialidade das colecçôes: por exemplo os estudantes de engenharia no Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers ou os estudantes de Medicina no caso das colecçôes de anatomia das Universidades de Paris. As condiçôes que os museus universitârios proporcionavam a estes pûblicos permitia-lhes desenvolver projectos de investigaçao e utilizar as colecçôes históricas corno material de inovaçâo. Hoje em dia, os museus universitârios sâo confrontados com urna dupla procura: a dos investigadores, que necessitarli de instalaçôes adequadas à consulta e ao estudo das colecçôes - procura essa que, em conjunto corn as oficinas de restauro e o indispensâvel laboratòrio fotografico, suscitou a necessidade de criar novqs instrumentos de pesquisa, as 'réservas visitâveis'; e a procura do publico em gérai, cujos conhecimentos cientificos sâo frequentemente menos aprofundados e que pretendem sobretudo partir à descoberta num local agradâvel e devidamente apetrechado com os indispensâveis recursos educacionais. Dado que muitos museus universitârios se encontram instalados em edificios históricos, é frequente a necessidade de projectos de renovaçâo em que novas exposiçôes sâo totalmente recriadas apesar de preservarem o 'espirito do lugar'. No interior das quatro paredes do museu, e em particular nos museus de ciência, a mediaçâo humana continua insubstituîvel e os 'demonstradores' possibilitam a operacionalidade quer de mâquinas quer de instrumentos. Fora das suas paredes, e em particular na Internet, os 'écrans do conhecimento' constituem ferramentas notâveis para proporcionar ao maior numero de interessados o acesso à informaçâo sobre os acervos. Nesta comunicaçâo, serao desenvolvidos alguns exemplos neste dominio, nâo escamoteando as dificuldades operacionais que os museus universitârios sentem, dado que em gérai nâo possuem o grau de autonomia indispensâvel para lidar com as légitimas expectativas do publico em gérai.