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Library and documentation
LIBRARY
The library of the Museum of the Americas is a research space specialising in the history, archaeology and anthropology of the American continent and other related subjects. It contains more than 32,000 modern monographs and an interesting collection of rare books.
Opening times: Monday to Friday, 9.00 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.
Contact: biblioteca.mamerica@cultura.gob.es
DOCUMENTARY COLLECTIONS
The Museum of the Americas holds a wide variety of documentary collections related to the American continent: 19th century photographs, field notebooks, collections of postcards and ethnographic slides. They are a significant source for the study of the Museum’s collections and have great historical value in themselves, as they provide information on research criteria, documentation techniques and the evolution of photographic processes.
What is documentation?
Documentation is an essential task of the museum, as it ensures the collections are monitored and information about them can be retrieved in order to be able to offer it to the user. The Documentation department is responsible for the registration and management of the collections. It gathers and organises the historical, scientific or technical information generated by this work.
Documenting the history of collections helps to enrich their value by providing context for them. It also provides an insight into the evolution of the museum as an institution and as a reflection of the social, political and cultural context of an era.
Documentation is now emerging as one of the most significant functions of the museum. Museums can be configured as documentation centres; in other words, as institutions that gather, manage and disseminate information of a cultural nature, information that can be as valuable as the collections themselves.