IN2PAST Working Group Holds 3rd Open Meeting
Upstream and Downstream of Archive Digitization – III
October 3, at the Institute of Education of the University of Minho (Gualtar Campus)

 

This third open working meeting, hosted by the GTPPA, aims to discuss issues related to the evaluation, selection, incorporation, treatment, and digitization of archival materials. It discusses the current state of Brazilian public archival policies regarding these issues and envisions possible futures in the digital and AI era.

The 3rd open meeting of the IN2PAST Working Group on Public Archive Policies (GTPPA) follows on from the first two public sessions (For an X-ray of Archives in Portugal – I and II), held in the first half of this year at the National Library of Portugal (Lisbon). It brings together researchers/academics, industry professionals, decision-makers, and civil society representatives.

In addition to researchers from various IN2PAST research centers, representatives from the District Archives of Porto and Guarda, EAD – Archive and Documentation Company, the Department of Culture and Tourism and the Municipal Archive Division of Braga, the Archive of the São João Local Health Unit/Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, the Cupertino de Miranda Foundation, the Municipal Historical Archive of Porto, and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto participate.

 

The Working Group on Public Archive Policies (GTPPA), created within the scope of IN2PAST, aims to discuss public archive policies in Portugal, contributing to the safeguarding of archival and cultural heritage and the preservation of memory.

Investment in public archive policies is considered essential not only to guarantee the safeguarding of archival and cultural heritage, but also to ensure citizenship rights, democratic transparency, and the continued preservation of memory.

In addition to a solid legislative foundation, these public policies must be equipped with adequate human and financial resources, based on carefully defined programmatic objectives based on prior scientific analysis. Thus, the process of developing coherent and coordinated archival policies must be established through dialogue between the competent authorities, industry professionals, universities, and civil society.

Thus, the GTPPA aims to organize and promote a qualified public debate that contributes to the definition and implementation of public archival policies, reflecting on and intervening on two fronts:

• analysis of safeguarding, treatment, and study practices of public, private, and civil society archives and debate on the potential and problems inherent in these practices;

• reflection on the risks of memory loss resulting from the failure to preserve or incorporate document funds or collections into existing or future archives.

 

The GTPPA is coordinated by researchers Joana Dias Pereira, Maria Lurdes Rosa and Rita Sampaio da Nóvoa (IHC – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST) and has the participation of members of the various IN2PAST research units.