Museums: Not Just Visiting Spaces but a Driving Force for the Use of Advanced S&T in the Restoration of Artworks

Abstract

Our paper analyses how museums not only play a traditional role in the cultural service but also act as a driving force for the use of science and technology in the conservation of artworks. Through a bibliometric approach and the use of social network analysis (SNA), we explore co-authorship of scientific articles and we detect how museums look for knowledge bases in science and technology. We also differentiate between institutions and geographical regions in order to find patterns in the cooperation with other institutions. Results indicate that European countries are important nodes in the cooperation for restoration and conservation, and patterns of cooperation indicate that museums look for knowledge bases mainly in restoration institutes and other museums in their own countries. This implies that museums look for analytical and synthetic knowledge out of the museums when they need to apply advanced science and technology in restoration.