The need for attention to the different types of informational supports for a preservation of its information and consequently, its relation with the memory of a place or event with the object of numerous works among the researchers, of the area of organization of knowledge, referring to photographic documents. These, in turn, are inserted in the narratives of investigations, historical research on places and facts, and the possibility of knowing the traditions of what is as well as a city, an organization or even a social organization of a nation.

In this sense, the obligation of treatment and preservation are urgent factors, since the treatment of photographic documents both in their physical aspects (preservation, adequate packaging, etc.) and in their intellectual aspect (treatment in relation to content, retrieval and user) is of almost importance for the retrieval of your information. This recovery permeates concepts that result in a deepening and knowledge of the fundamentals of descriptive and thematic representation areas. In a way, the deepening of the foundations demonstrates the role that the Knowledge organization fulfills: the direct work with the information and the study of the processes to which this information is submitted until it reaches its recipients, considering the elaboration of conceptual models with recovery purposes. Therefore, the treatment of the content (intrinsic or extrinsic) of the documents from the descriptive process, with metadata and thematic directly influences the recovery and assimilation by the users. Thus, the descriptive and thematic treatment are complex activities that require deepening and policies, where they are specified exactly the relevant elements for their realization considering, that this type of document can not be treated separately in a collection, but has its characteristics and specificities.

In this way, this workshop seeks to conduct a discussion about the fundamentals of Representation and Organization of Information and Knowledge and how they are used in Archives, Libraries, Museums and Documentation Centers. For this, thematic representation and metadata are highlighted in the debate, since they are key processes that directly affect the organization, reception and retrieval of these documents.

The understanding that all norms in force in different informational environments can encompass singular objects, such as photographic documents is extremely important in the sense of constructing a reflection regarding different ambiences such as Archives, Libraries, Museums and Documentation Centers and to the treatment which is carried out by each one, considering their specificities.