THE BRAZILIAN DIGITAL NEWSPAPER LIBRARY: SOURCES AND POSSIBILITIES FOR RESEARCH IN HISTORY OF EDUCATION

Abstract

The Brazilian Digital Library linked to the National Library Foundation provides researchers with free and free access to its digital collection of periodicals, newspapers, magazines and other documents. This article aims to present and discuss the digital library as a source for the History of Potiguar Education, focusing on the investigation of the north-state intellectual Nestor dos Santos Lima. The article was built to describe the research pathway carried out on the portal. The spatiotemporal approach investigated comprised the documents not only in Rio Grande do Norte, but in other states from 1900 to 1930. Among the newspapers available in the Digital Library that were constituted as research results, we point out, for example, “O Paiz” and “ Jornal do Comercio” in Rio de Janeiro, “Correio Paulistano” from São Paulo and “Diário de Pernambuco”. In order to carry out the research, we focus mainly on Le Goff (1990), Certeau (1982), Zicman (1985) and Luca (2008). We emphasize the potential of the press as a source for the History of Education and the need for criticism of the document, which often proves to be partial and subjective, permeated by intentionalities. We highlight, above all, the relevance of the Digital Newspaper Library as a repository of sources for the History of Education. As possibilities arising from the research in the digital library on Nestor Lima, we point out the evidence of the relationship that the intellectual builds with the press, the sociability presented, as well as the marks of his performance in the educational field in the state and its national repercussion during the First Republic period.