From Accounting to Accountability at the Virtual Museums in Pompeii and Herculaneum

Abstract

The enhancement of artistic and cultural heritage has been a recurring theme within the scientific and cultural debate by scholars from different disciplines and in the political agenda of most countries over the last decades (Senese, 2002; Meneguzzo & Grossi, 2002; Ferri & Zan, 2012). During the early 90s, researchers focused their attention on management practices, tools and models referring to arts and cultural organizations (Peacock, 1982; Frey, 1994; Towse, 1997; Christiansen & Skaerbaeck, 1997; Zan, 2002), as well as on the development of new and different organizational forms under pressure from the New Public Management (Pollitt, 2001; Lapsley, 2008; Ferri & Zan, 2012; Lindqvist, 2012). These studies aimed at analyzing, developing and proposing different conceptual and management frameworks within a context characterized by increasing scarcity of financial resources in addition to regulatory complexity. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an analysis of the growing phenomenon represented by the “Virtual Musealization” of archaeological sites in Italy, focusing on the case of Pompeii and Herculaneum.