In the knowledge and network societies, with an extended presence of cultural contents and services in most spheres of social life due to the trivialization of replication, the widespread dissemination by the media, digitization and online availability of contents, museums continue to be one of the main access routes to artistic goods. At the same time, the services offered by museums are far beyond the exhibition through activities promoted by educational services and a multitude of cultural and not cultural activities and services. Several sociological studies points out that the relationship between citizens and the specialized cultural institutions of advanced modernity is not limited to a relation as audience – i.e., a relationship with the physical space of the museum and its services - rather tends to be more diverse and complex, even from the point of view of those who visit the physical spaces of the museums. In this paper we address the public of museum institutions in order to identify and characterize different modes of relation. The empirical base of this research is a large sample of visitors from the Visitor Study of the National Museums. This study was promoted by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage (DGPC/MC) with the CIES-IUL as scientific partner. The field work took place throughout 2015 and the main information-gathering instrument was a web-based survey to a universe of visitors of the museums, both national and foreign, with 15 and more years. In order to identify the modes of relation with the museums several multivariate data analysis were used combining a large set of dimensions and indicators of practices, i.e.: the frequency of physical visits to museums; the visits to permanent and temporary exhibitions; the consultation and reading of catalogs; the frequency of educational services activities for young relatives; the frequency of outreach activities and cultural events (music, theater, etc., held in museums); the use of non-cultural valences of museums; carrying out training or professional activities; the access of online contents related to museums; hear and viewing radio or television programs; read press critics and news about museums. The identification of the modes of relation with the museums is analytically complemented with the prevailing social profiles.

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Audiences; Museums; Modos of relation; National Museums