“Misura ciò che è misurabile e rendi misurabile ciò che non lo è”.
(Galileo Galilei, “Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche, intorno à due nuoue scienze attenenti alla mecanica et i movimenti locali” – 1638)

Systematics can be defined as the discipline that classifies, organizes, and describes the elements of a system according to coherent and rigorous criteria. In biology, it is the branch of natural sciences that studies the diversity of living beings, names them, and organizes them into hierarchical categories. More broadly, it is any structured method of classification.

It formally originated with Linnaeus in the 18th century, although empirical forms of classification existed long before him: Aristotle, Theophrastus, Cesalpino. It was Carl von Linné (1707–1778), with his Systema Naturae (1735), who introduced binomial nomenclature (genus + species) and an ordered hierarchy (kingdom, class, order, genus, species). He is therefore considered the founder of modern systematics, because he transformed fragmented classifications into a universal and standardized system.

Why this reference to systematics? The contemporary museum is not only a place of conservation and exhibition, but a complex system that integrates managerial, educational, communicative, and social functions. The growing need to make museum action transparent and measurable has led INFOGESTIONE NETWORK MUSEUM to search for tools capable of translating the multiplicity of activities into functions expressed by structures, ordered and comparable.

The Method for a Systematics of the Exhibition Process – MSPE was born as a response to this need. It is a theoretical and operational protocol that allows the identification and classification of museum functions and their evaluation according to absolute and relative parameters. The systematic approach makes it possible to read the museum not as a sum of isolated activities, but as a unified system in which each function contributes to the overall configuration.

The MSPE is based on two key aspects:

– identification and classification of functions: the museum’s macro-functions, carried out by operational organizational structures (management, compliance, heritage, technical, research, development, education, communication, systems, coordination, administration, human resources), are isolated and described as taxonomic categories. At the time of writing, 182 functions have been identified: 91 related to the external environment in which the museum operates, and 91 internal to the museum system

– evaluation process: each function is analyzed to produce a nominal value, a relative value (from comparison with the environment), and an ideal value (from theoretical absolute standards). This evaluation generates a spectrum of museum configuration, useful for identifying strengths, weaknesses, and development strategies.

The macro-functions are composed of sub-functions, defined by managerial peculiarities and the amount of value involved. Among the feedback effects of applying MSPE, one concerns the perception of the museum’s intrinsic intelligence and its “raison d’être,” both formally and materially. The data and their interpretation reveal aspects such as public expectations and the institution’s role within the community.

Some functions even return a more complete identity of the visitor, more expressive of what the museum truly is, compared to what it intends to represent. This helps everyone understand the evolving raison d’être of a museum, moving beyond static definitions of cultural systems and their audiences.

Thus, MSPE presents itself as a research and management tool, capable of combining the theoretical dimension of systematics with the daily operations of cultural institutions. It is not limited to description and cataloguing, but becomes a guide for strategic planning, museum education, and cultural policies based on concrete foundations.

Last year, we began updating the 2019 draft, which now includes functions related to the application of artificial intelligence in both system management and environmental interaction.

We therefore wish to present and share, through this section, some aspects of the macro functional variables isolated and defined by the MSPE model. A special section of this site, entitled MSPE, will be dedicated to collecting contributions from colleagues and institutions who wish to help us expand the base of implementation and detection of this systematic methodology.

Hence, the appeal to colleagues and museum institutions for a collaboration to be developed through five operational phases:

1. theoretical study of the MSPE methodology

2. application of the MSPE evaluation protocol to the partner institution

3. analysis of the values obtained

4. re-elaboration of mission and vision objectives, whenever discrepancies with the institution’s self-consideration and/or ideal values require it

5. definition and implementation (total, partial, or experimental at the discretion of the partner institution) of corrective management measures in relation to an intervention program, aimed at gradually achieving evaluation scores of the functions considered.

Alongside the Method for a Systematics of the Exhibition Process (MSPE), INFOGESTIONE NETWORK MUSEUM has initiated the development of the INM Museum Catalogue, conceived as a tool for observation and evolutionary evaluation of museum institutions.

The model is inspired by the HR diagram in astrophysics, used to describe the evolution of stars: just as Andromeda is identified by the code M31, each museum receives a unique catalogue code. Through periodic evaluations entered into the catalogue, it is possible to observe not only the graphical and numerical configuration of the institution in relation to its territory, but also its evolution over time, identifying the internal and external factors that most influence the institution’s expression and mission.

The INM Museum Catalogue thus becomes a complement to MSPE: a system capable of uniting systematic analysis and dynamic vision, transforming the museum from a simple place of conservation into a living body, observable like a star in its evolutionary path.