Abstract

We can distinguish different levels, several targets and many tools in museums institutional communication. Like many other organisations, museums have a precise informative responsibility towards their different stakeholders. The first communication level is the one directed to people attending museums rooms (i.e. visitors); the second level is the one referred to scientific community; moreover, there are other stakeholders such as the staff, local and national authorities, media system, opinion leaders, goods and services suppliers, sponsors, etc. At international level, one of the most frequently used communication tools in museums is the Annual Report (AR), a document summarising, in a structured form, past and future information about museum life and activities. The analysis of international ARs allows designing their general structure, made up of a descriptive section and a quantitative one, besides, quite rarely, some space devoted to the analysis of the external scenario (PEST and SWOT analyses). In the «narrative» section, we can find such elements as: a) communication from the Director; b) notes on the history of the museum and its collections; c) mission and strategic goals; d) programs and activities; e) organisational structure and data about museum staff and volunteers; f) list of donors. As for the «quantitative» section, it cab be made up of the following items: g) data on visitors attendance; h) financial report; i) performance indicators. The making of an AR needs a careful and deep reflection on some strategic and operational management choices, moving from the mission formulation; on another side, an AR gives a 360 degrees vision of museum activities and has moreover very important implications in terms of evaluation, both diachronic and synchronic.