The Capes historical archive for a digital history of education

Abstract

The objective of this case study was to understand the potential of the Historical Archive of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel for the digital history of Brazilian education. The analyzes focused on instructions for using the collection of the Historical Archive of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel and on the content of the documentary series available to historians. The collection of the aforementioned Historical Archive is in the process of being digitized, but it already provides 399 objects in Portable Document Format from four documentary series: “Capes Reports,” “Informative Bulletins,” “Capes Debates”, and “Councils.” In total, there are 22,427 pages produced between 1952 and 2005. Navigation is optimized by various hyperlinks that guide researchers to the documents. The interface includes data about the production and its producers. Although it is more focused on higher education and strictu sensu graduate studies, the collection is relevant for elucidating different issues of interest to the History of Education and all those involved with education. However, certain information, such as the signatures of signatories, has been concealed. As Le Goff (1990) warns, documents, like monuments, are directed toward specific purposes; therefore, to be qualified as a historical source, critical scrutiny by the researcher is indispensable.