"Il Museo in tasca": un'applicazione per scoprire le collezioni naturalistiche dei Fisiocritici tramite dispositivi mobili

“Il Museo in tasca” is a free application for smartphones and tablets conceived by Fondazione Musei Senesi to increase access to six museums in Siena province. Accademia dei Fisiocritici contributed to the project by assembling information on its Museum of Natural History in a “virtual pocket guide”, available for download from March 2016. This application is useful for planning visits, finding one’s way around the ancient building and learning more about the exhibits, since showcases contain limited information. The Museum chose to maintain the way objects were displayed in the XIX century, a choice that limits the amount of information that can be transmitted. The application has four sections: “Museum” describes the location and history of the Siena Academy of Sciences; “Themes” indicates the main disciplines (geology and palaeontology, zoology and anatomy) and provides general information on the types and origins of collections; “Objects” describes certain items or collections in detail and explains their scientific value; “Localities” illustrates their provenance: major fossil-bearing outcrops, mining districts or areas of faunistic value. Each section contains texts (available in Italian, English and Chinese), photo galleries and video clips.