University museums and collections: survey of a widespread cultural heritage

University museums represent nowadays a largely underground dorsal of the Italian scientific culture and, indeed, the source of a relevant relational potential, which academic institutions continue to inadequately value. From such scenario and on the basis of the main data available in the international context, the paper discusses the results of a research study offering a national census of the widespread museum system belonging to Italian universities. The research, conducted in July-October 2015, examined overall 198 museums and 44 collections in the different fields of academic knowledge. Such recognition has made possible to investigate the dimensions and major features characterizing the phenomenon, with special reference to the territorial distribution of museums and collections, the variety of both their expository contents and coordination systems promoted by each academic institution, the naming strategies and the communication on the web.