Criteria and method for conducting the inventory of rural cultural heritage of the São Paulo State

• Grant number: 11/51015-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: August 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Information Science
• Agreement: Condephaat
• Principal Investigator: Luzia Sigoli Fernandes Costa
• Grantee: Luzia Sigoli Fernandes Costa
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The universe of historic farms, arising as a result of the occupation of the central region of São Paulo in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, is an inexhaustible source for study and research and constitutes a promising area, given the existence of a wide diversity of objects, some of them even rare, regarding cultural and natural heritage. The main aim of this project is to establish theoretical and methodological criteria that allow the identification, characterization, analysis and textual, image and sound representation, among other possibilities, of cultural heritage and practices that will result in inventories of historic farms in São Paulo, located in the region of São Carlos, central São Paulo state, taking into account the cultural and material and immaterial nature of this heritage, based on the public policy project of FAPESP, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Marcos Tognon, Rural Paulista Heritage: a privileged space for research, education and tourism (PCRP). Thus, the methodological focus of this project lies in the improvement of an Information Description Standard (POI), applicable to any type of cultural property, be it immaterial, material, bibliographic, archival, museological, archeological, or natural. The development of the POI has as its starting point the study of codes, standards and existing national and international recommendations, and also experiences focused on the development of asset inventories with the use of appropriate technologies for treatment, storage in a data base and availability via the web. From a theoretical-methodological perspective, we seek to develop a pilot project using the data base system Virtual Rural Memory (MVR) to enable the inventorying and availability not only of descriptive content, but also of interpretative and reflective content, hence translating the meaning and scientific and social relevance of the collections. Also focused in the research is the resolution of terminology issues in order to enable the semantic interoperability of content available and that of data and information exchange using the appropriate formats and standards. It is expected that the use of the methodology and mediatory technologies contribute to making the collections available - which are still unknown and isolated - in a seamless way for researchers and others interested in learning about this heritage that has proved its importance as a formative element of identity, citizenship and belonging in society. (AU)