An overwiew of the most visited university museusm in Brazil, between 2014 and 2018

Abstract

Understanding the role currently played by university museums in Brazil involves identifying and characterizing these institutions and analyzing the results their actions obtained. In this sense, this  study shows an overview of university museums listed among the 100 most visited museums in Brazil, according to a survey of the Annual Visitation Form compiled by the Brazilian Museum Institute,  referring to the years 2014 to 2018. Data were analyzed regarding the number of university  museums, geographic distribution in the country, institutional bonds, themes of the museum collection, year of creation, pre-existence and legal protection for its buildings as a cultural heritage. Data crossings were performed to extract additional
information. Despite being a numerically restricted cut, we consider it a qualitative-quantitative significant sample, since it considers the institutions that obtained the best public results in the five years studied. By this panorama, we can see similarities and gaps in the national scenario, such as the almost exclusive location in the South and Southeast  regions of the country, the highest numerical incidence and the greatest recurrence in the list of museums linked to public universities, or the predominance of scientific themes. This is certainly a partial approach to the theme of Brazilian university museums, which may complement other approaches and point out ways that the theme could be further investigated, thus allowing a more complete understanding of the role played by these  institutions.