Arquivo MDC : uma exploração do arquivo digital online para representação da produção académica em Design de Comunicação

Abstract

This dissertation addresses the characteristics and potential of digital computational archives of online access, while examining the role of the archive in preserving and disseminating collective memory. It explores models of archiving enabled by digitization and the algorithmic management of data, highlighting the significance of the archive’s structure in shaping the visual representation and interactive exploration of its contents. The theoretical and analytical components of the study inform the development of Arquivo MDC, an experimental project of an online archive that aggregates and documents the academic production of the Masters in Communication Design at FBAUL while emphasizing the themes it explores. To this end, the research begins by addressing the reconfiguration of the archive as a digital online medium that allows the automated management of contents and endows the archive with a dynamic, fluid, mutable, and open nature. The study then discusses the models and discourses of the archive, as well as the processes of visualizing and interactively exploring its contents. Complementing this discussion, it provides an analysis of background work and complementary projects focused on their interactive visualization models, as a means to emphasize the conceptual universe of the archive. This analysis provides guidelines for the development of Arquivo MDC, as an online platform that reflects the themes explored within the Masters. With this approach, this study seeks to promote critical reflection on the models and discourses of archives, and their role in preserving and disseminating knowledge. The practical component of this study also seeks to foster an exploration of the potential of online digital archives, and interdependence between their structure, models, and discourses. With this experimental project, the study seeks to provide a starting point for the development of platforms that highlight the themes and discourse of the archive, while encouraging the interactive exploration of its content through dynamic visualizations.