ABSTRACT
The diffusion of culture is among the primary missions of all museums, but academic teaching, which has often been at the origins of natural history museums, is still present. Informal education, which occurs outside the normal rubric and is addressed to a diverse public and largely noncaptive audience, takes many forms: exhibitions, whether permanent or temporary; mediation; cultural events; and online lectures and other resources. Dissemination means that all of these activities, along with further developments natural history museums, are closely tied to these institutions' collections. At the dawn of the new millennium, natural history collections receive newfound appreciation as instruments for scientific research, tools for the transmission of knowledge, aesthetic objects, and as the heritage of humanity. The examples are shown in this chapter that even if museology is assisted by modern technologies, the collections remain the core element of exhibitions of natural history museums.
