Virtual exhibition in archives as a source of information about union movements in Bahia

Abstract

Information units have incorporated their information services and products into the virtual environment to facilitate access to information sources on digital networks. However, many users are still unaware of the existence of these spaces or do not feel safe enough to carry out their research via the web. It is in this context that virtual reference services favor the mediation of information to the user in a dynamic and interactive way, using information and communication technologies. This work presents the virtual exhibition as a source of information, an informational product of the reference service, in order to intensify the dissemination of information in archival collections about union movements. This is a case study at the Raymundo Reis Documentation and Memory Center — Bankers Association of Bahia, a qualitative approach research, whose objective was to characterize the virtual exhibition as a source of educational, historical and sociocultural information, an informational product developed within the scope of the file reference service. The technique and instrument used for data collection was intensive direct observation and unstructured and undirected interviews. The results point to the structuring of a model for a virtual exhibition that would meet the needs of the Documentation Center, based on procedures focused on the dissemination of the collection. It was concluded that the virtual exhibition enhances the cultural and informational dissemination of archival institutions, and can favor the continuous recognition by society of its role as a source of educational, historical and sociocultural information, proposing a guideline here.