Ruggieri’s Ostracod Collection at the Gemmellaro Museum: Digitization and valorization

The Ruggieri Ostracod Collection, housed at the G.G. Gemmellaro Geological Museum, consists of more than 4700 slides containing specimens from approximately 400 Italian and international localities, spanning ages from the Paleozoic to the Recent. The collection includes 35 new genera, five subgenera, and over 250 new species and subspecies. A new program dedicated to cataloguing and digitizing the Ruggieri Ostracod Collection has been launched in collaboration with the ‘Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione’ (ICCD), of the Italian Ministry of Culture. All information is made publicly accessible through the SIGECweb web-based platform, which integrates photographic documentation and provides user-friendly access to the collection for research and consultation. To enhance the valorization of the Ruggieri Ostracod Collection, we have undertaken different actions: three ostracod ‘cold guests’ species, forms that colonized the Mediterranean Sea during the glacial periods, have been incorporated into the museum’s exhibition spaces. Additional outreach efforts include showcasing ostracods through the museum’s social media channels and via the multimedia totem on the first floor, which illustrates the Messinian Mediterranean desiccation and the Lago Mare Fauna, both subjects extensively studied by Ruggieri itself. Together, these actions aim to improve public engagement with microfossil collections while supporting their use by visitors and specialists alike. The aim of this work is to document the scientific relevance of the Ruggieri Ostracod Collection, to describe the procedures used for its digitization within the SIGECweb framework, and to present recent strategies implemented to enhance its visibility and accessibility to both specialists and the general public. This study highlights the importance of valorizing micropaleontological heritage and provides a model for future initiatives in natural history museums.