Challenges in defining access points to documents from the Truth Commission at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte

perspectives from the Organization of Knowledge and Archivology

Abstract

Access to public information is fundamental for the maintenance of democratic societies, the construction of collective memory and the exercise of citizenship. In this context, in the Brazilian scenario, the Access to Information Law enabled access to relevant documents, such as those that make up the files of the Truth Commissions. These documents are sources of evidence of human rights violations that occurred during the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985). Thus, this study addresses the interlocutions between Information Science, Knowledge Organization and Archivology, and aims to investigate the challenges in defining access points to documents produced and collected by the Truth Commission of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. To this end, bibliographical, documentary and exploratory research was carried out, with a qualitative and applied approach. Specific procedures included a literature review, requesting information from the university committee, the General Archive and the Image Laboratory to understand the profile of users, the demands for documents, the terminological control instruments used and the indexing guidelines of the aforementioned commission. To reach the results, some challenges were faced, including: lack of indexing policies, choice of a controlled vocabulary, ethical and legal issues of protecting the privacy of victims of the dictatorship and the lack of archival treatment of documents. Finally, the challenges were overcome, resulting in a proposal to define access points for the commission's documents, based on the guidelines established by the Brazilian Archival Description Standard.