Article:

This text focuses on the criteria to be used for the selection of Portuguese museums to be visited for the purpose of a museographic survey. The data will be collected to support research undertaken within the Doctoral Programme in Design, which is now in its initial phase. The ultimate objective will be to create a form of museographic practice in the area of design for the Portuguese Design Interpretation Centre, a project that is currently in progress at the ID+ Research Institute for Design, Media and Culture at the University of Aveiro. In Portugal, the Portuguese Museum Network (RPM) (2000- ), consisting of 137 museums and palaces, supports various museological activities and as such serves as a guide for the present study. However, according to researcher José Mendes (2013) from the University of Coimbra, there are actually around 700 museological units in Portugal today. Thus, in order to achieve maximum representativity in this context, it was decided to use two sets of selection criteria: the first involving museums that were awarded prizes by the Portuguese Association of Museology (1965- ) during the last decade; the second including different thematic museums from the Portuguese Museum Network in order to ensure heterogeneity. For the survey itself, an exploratory qualitative method will be used to gather pertinent information relating to museography, architecture, mediation and interaction with the public. The information will be obtained by visiting the sites and for each one filling out a form that focuses in more depth on particular themes. This article aims to present the criteria used in the selection of these museums, chosen to contribute to our understanding of the uniqueness of Portuguese museographic culture and therefore enabling the definition of a new territory of knowledge about museology in Portugal.