Dissemination actions in state public archives in Southeast Brazil

Abstract

The present study focus on mapping the dissemination activities carried out in the public archives of the states that are part of the Southeast region of Brazil, more precisely: Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo (APESP); Arquivo Público do Estado do Espírito Santo (APEES); Arquivo Público do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (APERJ); e Arquivo Público Mineiro (APM). First, it was investigated the existence of policies establishing guidelines for dissemination of archives in these institutions. Then, the official websites and annual reports of the archives were analyzed to identify the activities carried out in the empirical field, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020 and forced a large part of the world to adopt social isolation as a strategy for prevention and disease control. This research is characterized as investigative, qualitative, and descriptive. Investigative due to the analysis of the activities carried out by the institutions; qualitative due to the interpretation and understanding of the quality of the data found; and descriptive due to the examination and detailed description provided of the dissemination activities carried out in the selected archives. It is worth mentioning that this study aimed to highlight the importance of communication between archivists and individuals in the teaching and learning process, as well as in understanding the archive as a space for dialogue. Finally, the results obtained indicated that the institutions want to update their methods of disseminating their collections in response to the new challenges imposed by the pandemic. However, it was found that dissemination activities are still limited for the general public, that policies addressing the subject are scarce, and that few institutions have dedicated departments responsible exclusively for such actions.