The paper reflects on anthropological research with ethnographic collections in digital form and on the production of a hypertextual ethnography about the dynamics of culture in contemporary urban world, that is being developed in the last eighteen years by the Banco de Imagens e Efeitos Visuais (Biev) in the Graduate Program in Social Anthropology of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). From experiments with policies of access and preservation of digital collections in electronic networks, the article discusses key concepts such as those of image, imaginary, collections, and constellations, which are central for the enjoyment of the digital culture and its forms of distribution of knowledge as part of the production process of the ethnographic representation in complex societies.
Hypertext Ethnography; Ethnographic Collections; Digital and Electronic Networks; Images Anthropology