Archival Science and Knowledge Organization: Mapping Methodological Relationships

Abstract

We discuss the aspects and points of contact between knowledge organization and archival science, based on the texts published in the scope of the International Society of Knowledge Organization, especially concerning classification and description, building a theoretical-conceptual parallel about their points of contact. The aim is to systematize the relations between knowledge organization and archival science within the scope of classification and description. Bibliographic research in ISKO literature and archival literature was performed. Through systematization, it was possible to understand how the relationship between these fields is carried out and how it can be strengthened. The field of knowledge organization makes a pivotal contribution to the development of methodologies to access information. A series of developments in languages, structures and classifications, that is, knowledge organization systems (KOSs), is presented. On the other hand, archival science has been developing simultaneously, but in many moments seeking interlocutions, although superficial or even unintentional with the field of knowledge organization. The approximation of these fields is essential for the development of archival classification and description, aiming for the construction of ontologies, taxonomies and controlled vocabularies among others. These recent approximations must have occurred due to the changes that have happened in the last twenty years in relation to records management and the way people build knowledge and seek information. Also, it is possible to apply KOSs in the administrative digital environment for better archival representation instruments.