Museum Catalogs as Potential Instruments of the Social Dimension of Knowledge Organization and Representation

Abstract

This study adopts an approach centered on the social dimension of Knowledge Organization and Representation (KOR) within the field of Information Science. This means seeking to understand how classification systems, conceptual schemes, and the standards used to organize information are directly influenced by the social conditions in which they are produced and applied.

As Barité (2001) states, information schemes and systems are embedded in “social situations of knowledge”, meaning they do not exist in isolation but are developed, used, and interpreted within specific social contexts. This implies recognizing that the ways in which knowledge is organized reflect social practices, collective and historical interests, as well as symbolic disputes over what should be known, represented, and valued.

This orientation can be understood as the foundation of a social perspective of KOR, or a way of understanding information organization processes based on the cultural, political, symbolic, and linguistic influences that shape them. It involves a set of theoretical and applied assumptions that aim to problematize the choices involved in knowledge representation, recognizing that such choices are neither neutral nor universal.

Thus, the guiding question is: How are the characteristics of the social dimension of KOR expressed in museum catalogs?

The objective is to theoretically reflect on the organization and structure of three museum catalogs and one inventory that may exemplify a form of Knowledge Organization and Representation connected to social context.

This research is justified by the opportunity to discuss, from theoretical, methodological, and epistemological perspectives, the elements that characterize not only the semantic structures of products representing knowledge, but also how these instruments are presented and made accessible to users.