Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Informação (PPGCI)
Web Content Display Web Content Display
The history of the creation and consolidation of the Graduate Program in Information Science (PPGCI) of the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), cannot be separated from its role at the regional, national and international levels, from the justification for the existence of the concentration line in the State of Pernambuco, from the relevance of cultural issues, museums, collections, the historical background of the State's memorial tradition, the elements that differentiate it on the national scene.
At the turn of the 20th century to the 21st, societies started to demand more knowledge, in such a way and with such an impact, that the historical period that started was renamed the Information Society.
The demands of this new era have come to demand significant changes from the organizations that take care of the promotion, preservation and access to memorial heritage, especially with regard to the ways of accessing and preserving knowledge for future generations. It is for this reason that, in the years that followed the intensification of the use of digital products, the problems related to the tasks of reconstruction, treatment, memory preservation and the provision of access to these stocks of information increased. From this context, new needs and challenges emerged that specifically concern custody and guaranteeing the preservation of knowledge records for future generations.
In 2008, with the support of the Federal University of Paraiba (UFPB) and with the help of new hires from the Program to Support Federal University Restructuring and Expansion Plans (REUNI), it was already possible to submit a new course proposal to CAPES, made up of researchers from themes in the field of memory. Thus, in March 2008, a plan was presented to the CAPES with the proposal to create the Master’s Course in Information Science at UFPE.
Anchored in the most evident competences of DCI, the project was analyzed by CAPES, who issued a negative opinion, advising against forming a new program in Pernambuco. The Department of Information Science (DCI) collegiate, constituted to prepare and monitor the process, decided to immediately request the reconsideration of the project, basing the defense on the argument by CAPES of the need to develop the postgraduate system in the North and Northeast of Brazil. Brazil, as a way to reduce regional asymmetries, in addition to highlighting the potential of the course in Pernambuco and its contribution to the area. As a result of this reconsideration request, the Area Coordination at CAPES sent two consultants to Recife to assess on the spot the conditions offered by UFPE to carry out the course.
During this visit, the observers were able to attest to the effort and qualification of the teaching staff and the technical conditions for the shelter of the course, as well as the research groups working at the DCI, and the projects developed at the LIBER Laboratory, in the field of technology and memory, with local, national and international articulation. Based on this assessment, the consultants drew up a new technical opinion that recommended the installation of the Graduate Program in Information Science at UFPE.
The CAPES area Committee evaluated the consultants' opinion and, on October 16, 2008, authorized the operation of the Stricto Sensu Postgraduate Program in Information Science at the UFPE, a master's course in the academic modality.
Immediately, the Program Coordination initiated the Admission/Selection Process. A decision by the Public Ministry, however, forced UFPE to adapt the selection processes for admission to postgraduate courses to the Brazilian legislation that regulates admission to the federal public service. The adaptation process took more than six months, so that the first selection for the PPGCI was only carried out in September 2009. In order not to delay the calendar, in December of the same year, the second Admission/Selection Process was made for that Program. In December 2010, the PPGCI already had two classes selected and the course in progress.
As of 2011, the Program was strengthened with the incorporation of new professors. This growth led to the development of the Concentration Area “Information, Memory and Technologies” in two lines of research: line 1, entitled “Memory of Scientific and Technological Information”, more focused on the production, organization and social use of information, as cultural heritage; and line of research 2, entitled “Communication and Visualization of Memory”, dedicated to studies on information communication processes.
Because of this orientation and efforts to expand its critical mass, the PPGCI, although started in 2009, stood out for its performance in the academic landscape, receiving concept 4 in the CAPES triennial evaluation. In view of this scenario, in 2016, the PPGCI prepared and submitted to CAPES a proposal (APCN) for a Doctorate in Information Science. This proposal was approved with concept 4 and published on 01/05/2017 on the CAPES website. Thus, with the authorization for its operation, the Postgraduate Program in Information Science at UFPE started on 08/01/2017.
For a long time, the study of memory was considered a dilettante form, derived from history and the sciences of heritage. In fact, modern studies of memory are indebted to the contributions of history, architecture, anthropology and other important disciplines, however, this common sense ends up eclipsing other important contributions to the studies of memory as an emerging subdomain in the field of Life Science, Information.
The Post-Graduation in Information Science results from a situation in the context of a tradition. In this sense, the choice of the concentration area results from the evolution of the skills historically developed in the academic environment whose host, the Department of Information Science at UFPE, was the agglutinator, catalyst and promoter of the experiences. It results from a collective, multiplex and multiuser effort accelerated by REUNI action, the emergence of digital technology and the possibilities that have emerged with the connection of the articulated memory assets in a society mediated by networks and digital technology.
Information is the cornerstone, the great field in which the phenomena of intelligence are demarcated and studied at the borders of our science.
Memory is the thematic and theoretical field where researchers investigate the social dimension of information. Memory, in common sense, traditionally refers to meanings stuck in the past tense. Time when retired records fall asleep, some would even say invalid, of human achievements. Before that, memory represents, for the PPGCI, the vigorous, current and living field where relevant social processes of mandatory presence in the debates of the Information Society unfold.
Technology accommodates the contemporary vector of change, in which disruptive innovation processes take place, the crease that imposes the pace of change and adaptation of societies to renewed ways of being human. From the tension between technology and memory, from the imperative of change and from the need to preserve and provide access, there are the privileged objects of interest for research that are produced in the Postgraduate Program in Information Science at the UFPE.
The area of "concentration “Information, Memory and Technologies" is linked to the research lines “Memory of Scientific and Technological Information” and “Communication and Visualization of Memory”. These lines promote reflections on the production of knowledge, a characteristic problem of contemporary society, taking into account two dimensions: a) reflection on the organization and production of knowledge on the social use of cultural heritage in different institutional contexts; and b) reflection on collective memory communication processes in different economic, technological and socio-cultural contexts.
Research Line 1 - Memory of Scientific and Technological Information
Line description: The production of knowledge about the social use of cultural heritage. Emphasis on the use of knowledge stocks produced in regional and national development institutions and their flow for socio-political, economic, technological and cultural purposes.
The research objectives of Line 1 focus on the production of knowledge as a phenomenon of construction, preservation, conservation and protection of the memory of scientific culture as a socioeconomic asset, the engine of society's cultural progress. This production is conceived as a result of the systematic use of collective memory stocks, generating reflections on theoretical, conceptual and reflective issues related to the production of knowledge for economic, technological and sociocultural use. It is characterized by an emphasis on the analysis of knowledge stocks produced in regional and national development institutions and their flow for socio-political and economic purposes. Considering the contemporary experience, marked by the intensive use of information technologies, this line is also concerned with preservation.
Research Line 2 - Communication and Visualization of Memory
Line description: Investigations on the processes of communication of collective memory in different socio-cultural segments. It includes theoretical, methodological, and technical aspects applied to the production, management, organization, retrieval and use of information. This line comprises communication and the visualization of memory as a phenomenon of socialization and valorization of the scientific knowledge produced, mediated by information and communication technologies. It turns to practical and applied aspects, contemplated in methodologies and techniques related to the production, organization, retrieval and dissemination of information.
The research objectives of Line 2 includes investigations: metric studies of information, such as studies of production and evaluation of scientific and technical communication, supported by bibliometric, scientometric and infometric theories and methods; information retrieval methods, techniques and tools; accessibility, usability, findability and information architecture; technologies and techniques for the representation and visualization of information; information technology; information management; uses and users of information; management of informational processes and services; studies of virtual environments for the production, circulation and access to information, with an emphasis on understanding the processes mediated by information and communication technologies.
To comply with its proposal, the PPGCI aims to train professors, researchers and specialized human resources able to promote reflection and knowledge production in the area, granting its postgraduates the degrees of Master and Doctor, respectively, in the modalities of Academic Master and Doctorate and unfolds in the following specific objectives:
- To favor the epistemological construction of the area, especially about issues related to the universe of memory, with an emphasis on scientific and technological information and in the academic, governmental, and business segments;
- Contribute to the academic training and performance of postgraduates in different fields of knowledge, for the benefit of the social, economic, technological and cultural affirmation of the Program in favor of the development of the country, in particular in the Northeast Region;
- Encourage the creation of knowledge in Information Science, considering the issues arising from reality and the possibilities arising from technological innovations and their impact on society, and on the processes, products and tools for organizing information;
- Collaborate with the process of analysis and critical interpretation of national and international theoretical and methodological references relevant to studies and scientific projects carried out in the Program.
The PPGCI aims to train professors, researchers and specialized human resources able to promote the reflection and production of knowledge in the area of Information Science, conferring, to its postgraduates, the degrees of master and doctor, respectively, in the modalities of Academic Master and Doctorate. The aim is to provide master's and doctoral students with training articulated with the program's area and lines of research, encouraging them to reflect on the relationships between information, memory, technology, science, culture, and society, giving rise to theoretical, methodological and experience, through disciplines, research projects and complementary activities.
The training of teaching staff for higher education has been carried out in line with research practice and commitment to scientific and technological development in the field of Information Science and complementary domains. An analysis of this profile, focused on the production of graduates and their critical incursions made it explicit that Information Science goes beyond the scope of the university institution, thanks to the concrete possibilities for configuring interdomains developed during academic activities or not, transcending borders and institutional structures, age groups, methods, and themes, in order to configure a complex profile of postgraduates. Such perception is expressed in dissertations thesis, since the early years of the scientific production of the Program and begins to take shape in the first doctoral thesis starting in 2019.