The opening conference of the eighteenth edition of the SNBU – Seminário Nacional de Bibliotecas Universitárias (National Seminar of University Libraries) will count on the presence of the renowned researcher Peter Burke, who will present a lecture on “the Archaeology of Knowledge and the Archaeology of Libraries.”
With a scientific production marked by breadth and inter-disciplinary studies, with emphasis on works on the theory and methodology of cultural history, Peter Burke has already published more than 20 books, translated into 28 languages, among which: “New Perspectives on Historical Writing” (1992), “A Social History of Knowledge: from Gutenberg to Diderot” (2000), “A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet” (2004) and “A Social History of Knowledge Volume II: From the Encyclopedia to Wikipedia” (2011).
The socio-cultural insights on the Theory of History and Knowledge pointed out by the author in his academic life will contribute to further stimulate the reflections on challenges and the role of information professionals in the contemporary production of knowledge. In addition, they will also enable the understanding of the new roles of the University Library within the context of collaborative production in information networks.
Currently an emeritus professor of the University of Cambridge, Peter Burke has a Philosopher’s Degree from the University of Oxford (1957 to 1962); he was a professor of History of the Ideas at the School of European Studies of the University of Essex; he lectured for sixteen years at the University of Sussex (1962); he was a professor at the University of Princeton (1967) and a guest professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of São Paulo (IEA – USP), from 1994 to 1995 – a period when he studied deeper the history of Brazilian culture and education, becoming a specialist in Gilberto Freyre’s works.