Gestão de risco e salvaguarda de acervos bibliográficos: o caso do Acervo Especial da Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR)

Abstract

Rare books are a cultural heritage and must be preserved for future generations. In the scope of cultural goods, whether archival, museological or bibliographic, risk management arises as a concrete tool for preservation. In this context, the aim is to present the essential premises for the creation of a risk management plan for the Special Collection of the University of Fortaleza (Unifor), which involves the identification and analysis of the risks to which it is exposed. To this end, the basic premises for the definition of criteria for the recognition of rare collections, as well as their particular needs and the importance of their risk management and safeguarding, are introduced. Said collection, composed mostly of the personal collection of the founder of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, Francisco Matarazzo Sobrinho (“Ciccillo” Matarazzo), contains around seven thousand volumes and gathers one of the most important collections of art books in Brazil, mostly rare works. A bibliographical survey of risk management standards adopted by other information units was carried out and two internationally recognized standards were selected as assessment standard for the preservation of collections: the Australian / New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 4360:2004 and the Canadian model created by Robert Waller and implemented in the Canadian Museum of Nature; the policy formulated by the Brazilian National Library Foundation (Fundação Biblioteca Nacional - BN) is also referred. The Canadian model was selected as basis for adaptation and application to the Unifor case. In order to identify the risks inherent to the Special Collection of the University of Fortaleza (Unifor), the physical and environmental evaluation of the building and the existing human practices and capacities were carried out. Data were collected through interviews with collaborators of the Special Collection on the preservation of bibliographic documents. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that the risks identified so far are of type 2 (severe and sporadic) and 3 (constant and moderate) and thus susceptible to prevention or attenuation based on simple and specific strategies, provided that the collection is subject to constant monitoring and that a risk management plan (RM) specific to the Unifor Special Collection is made.