Tudo passa e tudo fica no caminho que se faz: um estudo qualitativo de acervo e fundo de arquivo de instituição cultural, sob o paradigma que insere a arquivologia no contexto de uma Ciência da Informação

Abstract

This is a qualitative study of an archival collection held by the FundaçãoCultural Calmon Barreto, a cultural institution located in Araxá, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study is developed within the paradigmatic proposal, which places archival studies in the broad field of Information Science. The main aspects analysed in the research are: a) the history, mission and organizational structure of the Institution; b) the process of acquisition throughout time; c) the use and users of holdings; d) the history of the analysed collection and its creator; e) the information treatment applied to the collections in this institutional environment. The research method chosen was the case study, described and analysed with the support of bibliographic and original sources research. Semistructured interviews and random sampling of the analysed collection were also used as instruments for obtaining data. The main conclusions of this study are: a) the broader institutional mission led to a bureaucratic structure that allowed employees, mainly historians, to assume responsibilities completely unrelated to the task of archival organization; b) there is a lack of skilled staff to deal with archival activities; c) besides the institutional collection and library, six othercollections have been acquired either from public bodies or local families and individuals; d) as the Institution is centred on the incorporation of holdings, its main role has been one of a collections depository, but appropriate conditions for holdings management have not been established yet; e) finding aids have not been developed for existing holdings and, given the tendency of incorporating new collections, problems concerning holdings control and information retrieval will almost certainly increase; f) the users of the collections are mainly students either from high school or universities; g) the establishedrules for use and users registration must be revised; h) the analysed collection is of private origin and was not treated according to archival principles; i) each issue discussed in this study must be considered within the perspective of an Archival Acquisition and Description Policy, which we recommend to be urgently adopted by the Institution.