Fotografias no museu: uma análise dos elementos de representação temática do banco de dados informatizado do Museu Paulista, SP

Abstract

Considering that photography in a museum must follow, like any other document, treatment parameters and policies that assess extrinsic (technical data, framing, effects, color, etc.) and intrinsic factors (content, context)  in line with the institution's proposed objectives, it is questioned about how this treatment takes place in a computerized system, since this will be the path that will enable the adequate information retrieval by users. Thus, the study purpose was to reflect on the photographs at the Museu Paulista in São Paulo city, Brazil, and, through the description of the institutional database, analyze the perspective of the thematic representation of these documents. The research carried out was bibliographical and exploratory based, by looking for specific literature that grounds the understanding of photography in museums and its characterization in the chosen museum. In a second moment, an inquiry was carried out among the specifically published literature about the computerized database of the Museu Paulista and a discussion was built on its elements, with an emphasis on those that allow thematic recovery of the information contained in photographs. It is believed that, beyond the well-structured information systems, the content and context of photographs in museums is essential for their understanding and recovery in order to provide greater support for the institution's curatorial objectives, as well as demonstrating the nature and importance of these documents full of peculiarities.