Photographic collection organization

the case of Carroça de Mamulengos

Abstract

This text presents the adversities involved in the impact of the lack of organization of a photographic collection on the preservation and dissemination of history, as is the case with the Companhia Carroça de Mamulengos. The central question posed is: what are the challenges faced in the practice of organizing a photographic collection? The general objective is to evaluate the activities developed in the organization of the photographic collection of the project 'Preservação da memória da Carroça de Mamulengos: memorial 45 anos'. The text discusses the theoretical-conceptual conceptions of information organization and, consequently, the descriptive and thematic representation of informational objects. It highlights the categories of image description focused on context, scenery, characters, and events, as well as the presentation of photography as a special material that requires special care, as they are informational, historical, ethnographic, and anthropological sources. In the methodological aspects, a descriptive and bibliographic approach of a qualitative nature is employed. Inferences are made about the challenges faced in the organization of the collection, as well as the need for library practices for the preservation of social memory, the dissemination of culture, and access to knowledge and practices. It is concluded that one of the main challenges encountered is the lack of detailed information about the images; this information gap hinders the descriptive and thematic representation of the photographs, compromising their understanding and retrieval.