MAPPING OF BRAZILIAN DISSERTATIONS AND THESES FOCUSING ON SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND RARE WORKS

Abstract

Academic research focused on collections of rare and special works encompasses a dynamic of studies that encompasses various fields of knowledge. Our objective was to recover Brazilian theses and dissertations that studied these collections, based on data collected through the Catalog of Theses and Dissertations of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel. Initially, our work sought to map the theses and dissertations that used these types of collections as the central focus of their respective texts, within a general framework and without filtering any field of knowledge. A total of 62 documents were generated, the majority of which were dissertations, and in most of the fields, we highlighted a single study. We observed that theses and dissertations on collections of rare and special works appeared in most major fields of knowledge, reinforcing the universal, plural, and multi-thematic nature of these materials. Upon realizing that Information Science produced the most theses and dissertations, we then applied a content analysis to the abstracts of the retrieved documents. We found that the textual production of this type of document on the topic in question, in Information Science, began in 1991, and the last study retrieved was dated 2023. Most of the texts were defended at the University of Brasília and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Only two theses were retrieved, reflecting a lack of continuity in research on these collections. Although dozens of documents were retrieved, there is a low flow of research, within a general scope, in Information Science and related areas of Information Science, such as Library Science and Museology. Our study aims to contribute to the discussion on the need to restructure the curriculum of Postgraduate and Undergraduate Programs, especially in the areas of Information Science, Library Science, Museology and Archival Science, in order to apply technical knowledge of conservation and restoration, in addition to theoretical knowledge of Bibliography.