O sistema de informação da Presidência da República Portuguesa: a documentação dos mandatos do Presidente Ramalho Eanes, 1976-1986

Abstract

Princípios para uma metodologia de tratamento da documentação do Chefe de Estado, baseando-se no estudo do “Acervo Documental do Presidente Ramalho Eanes”: definindose princípios de organização e tratamento da documentação na sua vertente biblioteconómica, arquivística e museológica, com vista à sua disponibilização e à preservação da memória nacional. Apresenta-se uma proposta de plano de preservação digital a aplicar ao fundo documental da Presidência da República.

Abstract: The main purpose of the archives, libraries, museums and documentation centers is to gather, to process and to disseminate relevant information. These institutions are able to cover, as thoroughly as possible, a vast field of investigation, using several sources and research techniques. The archives, libraries, museums and documentation centers, all share a common purpose, as they play an important role in the social, cultural and administrative process of the societies. The differences between these institutions are visible on the way in which its repertoire is created, as well as the types of documents they keep: the library keeps the printed and audiovisual products of the cultural, technical and scientific activities; the archive keeps odd materials (for example, reports and material evidences from law suits), of the working and intellectual activities of people. Therefore, if the information is widely disseminated through a detailed analysis, using the documents recorded in different supports, becoming more relevant when it is combined with other data, from other sources. This work goes beyond the simple content of the documents, as all this information is part of the “collective memory”. In our days, there is a widespread recognition of the importance of the documents and archives, visible on the concept of “memory”. When one tries to understand the past, the documents are viewed as instruments at the service of the political power, and at the same time revealing a deep knowledge regarding the exact insight about the past. The memory and the history are two correlated concepts, in the current definition of the historical science. In these processes, the role of the archive is obviously important, as it produces a record for history. The institutions in charge of the preservation of the social memory do it mainly by taking charge of the documents, through the archives management. The memory is therefore considered as a set of information and/or organic documents, in other words, as a reference framing, and not as simply gathering or storage of information. In the XXIst century, the archivistic approach is in continuous change, related to the new information technologies and the ideas of the power hidden in the documents. With the new techniques of control and recovery of information, the conception of the archive as a simple institution of keeping documents evolved to the modern conception of information management, aiming to insure the access of the users to that information.