A usabilidade e a acessibilidade em repositórios institucionais: análise da Biblioteca Digital do Exército Brasileiro

Abstract

The process of producing and communicating scientific knowledge requires speed and efficiency to facilitate information retrieval by researchers. In the current context, information and communication technologies are essential to encourage the generation and dissemination of new knowledge from scientific activity. The free availability of this content has long been desired by he academic-scientific community, a reality that has come to fruition with the evolution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), specially with the emergence of the WEB. This research focuses on usability and accessibility in institutional repositories, but specifically aims to identify the extent to which the Brazilian Army's institutional repository is in line with the principles of usability and accessibility identified in the literature. And its general objective is to present the analysis of the Brazilian Army Digital Library (BDEx) in light of the identified principles of usability and accessibility. For this purpose, the following specific objectives were outlined: to identify through literature what characterizes a digital repository and a digital library aiming to present its attributes and functionalities; to identify accessibility and usability principles in the literature, aiming at the organization of information in institutional repositories; to understand the BDEx, focusing on the institutional, structural and organizational aspects and recovering of its contents today and Ito identify the extent to which the principles of usability and accessibility raised through literature are being used in the BDEx. The investigation is justified by the importance that repositories have achieved in the world scenario, mainly in the management of research data. The methodology is based on a quali-quantitative approach, with descriptive characteristics, as our research can be defined as a case study. The usability assessment was carried out using Nielsen's 35 Heuristics (2008) strategically selected by Camargo and Vidotti (2008) and the accessibility assessment was carried out automatically using the AccessMonitor system, developed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). However, some aspects of accessibility were checked manually. We consider that repositories that meet such characteristics and functions may be able to play an important role as a resource, aiming at recovering information, preserving institutional memory and consequently expanding scientific communication and can quickly become an integral part of the infrastructure gear. of global research.