The Office of Studies has been active since the establishment of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage (DPR 3 December 1975, n.805, art. 10), within the Directorate General for General Administrative and Personnel Affairs, with the task of conducting studies, research, and investigations on matters of transversal interest to the activities of the Ministry, disseminating the results through publication and, subsequently, also through the website. Until 2014, the Office of Studies was part of Service I – Coordination and Studies of the Secretariat General; since 2015, it has been part of the Directorate General for Education and Research, renamed the Directorate General of Education, Research, and Cultural Institutions on 5 February 2020.
A number of transversal research topics have been identified over the years, either independently or in collaboration with other structures, research entities, and experts. These include: analysis and comparison of policies, legal systems, and institutions at the national, local, and European level; the organisation of Ministry offices; the definition of professions and training; economic and managerial aspects connected with the promotion of cultural heritage; the testing of new methods of inquiry referring to supply and demand, measurement of user satisfaction, and service quality.
The topics addressed can be organised into three main areas:
- collection and analysis of industry legislation, both state and regional, with insights on the international level;
- the Administration’s activities in its most directly “operational” aspect, with special reference to problems inherent to the exercise of protection;
- analysis of services provided by museums, libraries, and archives.
From 1987 to 1993, the Office curated the collection of statistical data on Ministry activities, supplemented with graphics and explanations, which many cultural heritage scholars and observers drew on; this data provided a truly useful source of information for those years, when the Office of Statistics was not yet active.
Notable publications include the Newsletter of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, established in 1981, and the series Basic Figures of Culture (from 2009 to 2014). This was a collection of summary data – from published sources, public and private, or direction from the Directorate General and Institutes of the Ministry – related to the safeguarding and promotion of cultural heritage in Italy, as well as the production and dissemination of culture, in its broadest sense. The Office of Studies has also published a series of Dossiers exploring specific topics.
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