Software development and implementation experience for visitors counting at the Câmara Cascudo Museum

Abstract

Counting visitors is important in museum management. One of the most common techniques for recording visits is signing the museum guest book. However, this approach tends to be more expensive and time-consuming to analyze data manually. This work reports an intervention experience at Museu Câmara Cascudo (MCC) which developed and implemented the Publicus, software for recording and analyzing visitation data focusing on public contact. From 2017 until early 2024, the author of this work collaborated with MCC employees on different activities. Thus, he was able to observe museum functioning, talk to employees, analyze documents, take photographic records, read publications about the museum, work on the development of the Publicus software and monitor its implementation and effects over time. This experience report begins with the original form of visitors counting at MCC. Then, the Publicus development and deployment are described. Finally, some impacts observed in this intervention in the museum are presented, such as acceleration of visitor counting, support for defining opening days and hours and feasibility of incorporating visitor quantity analysis into management activities. The Publicus software can be easily adapted for use in other museums. This experience can help similar institutions to reflect and improve their processes for recording and analyzing visitation data, as well as resulting decisions.