#Exhibit of the Month

One of the great technical achievements that revolutionized the idea of time and space, opening a new era in the history of communication, is telegraphy. It is based on the transmission of electrical signals through a cable over long distances, allowing people to communicate instantly. The telegraph spread very quickly and a network of wires stretched around the world.

In 1837, the American painter and physicist Samuel Morse invented the first electromagnetic device for telegraphy, patented in 1840. To send messages by wire, Morse developed in 1838 a simple code of dots and dashes, which represented the letters of the alphabet, known as "Morse code ".

Both Morse code and the telegraph machine were improved over time, with the telegraph becoming the most widespread system of communication and information transmission for more than a century, until the advent of the Internet. The telegraph system consisted of a series of stations repeaters along the transmission line route. Each station had an operator who received and transmitted messages by telegraph. The Morse machine transmitted about 25 words per minute, which were recorded in code on a paper tape. The operator in charge of transmitting the message would decode it and write it on paper using a special typewriter.

In Bessarabia, the telegraph entered in 1860: on April 8, the Bender telegraph station began its activity, and on April 24, the one in Chisinau, following the construction of the first Odesa-Chisinau-Leova telegraph line. Currently, telegraph services have been discontinued. The only ones who still use coded communication are radio amateurs.

The Morse telegraph machine shown comes from the Osinoostrovsky electrotechnical plant, Soviet Union, and dates back to 1934. The exhibit was restored by Mihail Culașco.

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Research Research Projects

"Scientific exploration and promotion of various categories of museum property" (2013-2014)

Since 1 January 2013 the museum scientists work on the project Scientific exploration and promotion of various categories of museum property.

Museum research is closely related to the existing museum property and its development, knowledge, and use. Well-studied collections enhance the perception of their value and their informational message reflected in studies and expositions.

The collections of the museum are primarily the cultural heritage in the form of material values and are a part of the national heritage. All these cultural values have a certain intrinsic value and contextual value. Research and knowledge of them are of particular importance in the museum work, because it promotes the consolidation and development of the cultural identity of groups and individuals, sustainable development, social harmony and intercultural dialogue at national and international levels.

Research, knowledge and promotion of museum collections are justified as a means to guarantee everyone the right of access to the resources of cultural values, knowledge of national history; they constitute a means of the museum institution democratizing. Research and promotion of museum property are the consequence of the role and place of the museum in contemporary society.

The project is focused on three main objectives:

- Scientific systematization of the archaeological collections;
- Research and use of the documentary collections (posters, national books, foreign books, postcards, Bessarabian periodicals);
- Identification of the main trends of development of modern museology.

In the process of implementation of the project several research methods will be used; historical and museological will be essential.

The project will contribute to the development of quality standards for scientific registration of the museum property, the formation of a particular museum policy, the development of cultural and scientific partnerships at the national and international levels, as well as the education of a responsible attitude to the protection of cultural values.

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