The value of museums

Much of what we know about life and its origins comes from the collection and study of natural specimens preserved in museums. Museum collections are libraries of the natural history of the world, vital to our ability to interpret Nature and to understand the place that humankind occupies in the world. Museums thus become landmarks in our scientific understanding of nature, preserving their specimens for posterity and nurturing an informed interest in our complex and changing world. Collections endure for centuries, while interest in many scientific papers fades within a few years or decades.

Natural history collections are thus the cultural heritage of every natural history museum: they tell the history of the institution, bear witness to the work of those who have worked in the museum and, together with the data that accompany each specimen, are the databases that allow all new scientific research to flourish.

The Carmagnola Natural History Museum was conceived above all to preserve and understand the biodiversity of north-western Italy, but over time it has extended the scope of its mission to other parts of the world, such as Mediterranean, African and South American countries.

The Carmagnola Museum is now one of the most active natural history museums in Italy. All the material and data preserved in its collections are available, locally and internationally, to researchers, scientists, students and the public through field studies, permanent and temporary exhibitions, loans and online.

Scientific research on the collections has direct applications in very different fields of study, such as biodiversity, ecology, climate and environmental change, animal and plant distribution, wildlife management, nature conservation, biomedical research and so on, as is well documented in the section “Publications on museum specimens”.