Resumen:
Motivated by the donation of the personal archive of its former Rector Guilherme de
Figueiredo to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) in 2014, the present research
uses this institutional act as an empirical field to shed light on both the procedural nature of
this, and on the demands that are triggered, in the administrative scope, from the acquisition
and receipt of a personal archive. In this way, it proposes to think about the pertinence of an
acquisition of this nature, due to the relation of the profile of the archive with the institutional
objectives and mission, as well as the need for technical processing, preservation and
promotion of the same. It analyzes the directions of governmental nature and the public
policies around them. It discusses issues that directly impact on the scientific, academic and
cultural uses foreseen for this type of archive, when the acquisition takes place in an
institution that does not have the guard as its main objective. In this sense, it points out
aspects such as the need for adequate space, financial resources and specific technical and
human resources for their management, as well as their place in the institution's organizational
structure, in view of the need to delegate responsibilities to fulfill the ongoing custody
process. From the experience of guarding institutions, it highlights the need for institutional
planning regarding the expansion of archival informational capital. It records the need for
elaboration and adoption of specific procedures and suggests a guideline model for the
acquisition of personal files with the purpose of subsidizing both the administrative rite and
the decision making of this nature, since the social return of this documentary heritage is
intrinsically linked to the decisions prior to its receipt.
