Mediação da informação em biblioteca universitária e a afiliação de estudantes com deficiência visual

Abstract

In times of quantitative expansion of enrollment of students with disabilities, legitimized by inclusive public policies, it becomes especially relevant to discuss issues that go beyond access, permeate permanence and success in the educational path. From this perspective, the analysis of the relationship between the mediation of information developed in a university library and the construction of affiliation by students with visual impairments constitutes the object of study of this investigation. The analysis was based on the Socio-historical Cultural Theory established by Vygotsky, providing an understanding of the origins of mediation, as well as an approach to disability beyond limitation, as a condition of development affected by social and historical dynamics. Regarding methodological options, this is a case study – based on qualitative and quantitative paradigms – developed in the context of the libraries of the System of the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia (SIB/UFRB), in which data were produced through interviews semi-structured and document analysis. To understand the data, content analysis was applied as a procedure with the aid of the software Interface de R pour les Analyzes Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires (IRaMuTeQ), which pointed out the grouping of the main themes covered and supported the elaboration of 4 (four) categories – Reports of life and disability; Information mediation; Library as a membership space; and Membership Challenges. Regarding ethical aspects, the research was submitted and approved by the Ethics Committee of UFRB and the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). The results indicate that the library's collaboration in the process of mobilizing students with visual impairments in the apprehension of higher education codes and in the assimilation of the academic routine - affiliation - requires conscious mediation, which aims to understand the singularities of the participating agents in the interference action. Within the scope of SIB-UFRB, the predominance of unconscious mediation, evidenced by the few specific actions for students with visual impairments, has weakened its collaboration in building the affiliation of this segment. It is expected that the results obtained in this investigation will provoke reflections among librarians regarding the potential of conscious mediation for building affiliation among students with visual impairments.