Paper short abstract:

The creation and circulation of documents, especially between the kingdom and the Portuguese possessions of the Atlantic Africa, and the record keeping practices of the Conselho Ultramarino and the Secretaria de Estado da Marinha e dos Domínios Ultramarinos is analyzed and their archives deconstructed.

Paper long abstract:

This paper considers that the archives (institutions) and the records (documents) shape information retrieval and historical knowledge in ways often unquestioned both by archivists and users. Revealing how records were born, used and mediated and how archives were made up, helps to understand the power and limits of the archives of the Conselho Ultramarino and Secretaria de Estado da Marinha e dos Domínios Ultramarinos for writing history and telling other stories. Thus, the purpose for the production of specific documents such as the petitions and the following documentary chain, their features, and the needs of the several private and public players, are analyzed. Also, factors such as distance and transport in relation to the administrative time, the political decision making and the record keeping systems of these overseas central offices, are enlightened. Finally, attention is paid to the transfer and division of archives, to the archivist's profiles and practices (labeling, classifying, arranging) and to what is more or less documented.