Comportamento de busca de informação na internet: inclusão digital, modelos conceituais e estudo exploratório

Abstract

ABSTRACT The information search behavior of users of Internet rooms located at the Center for Scientific and Cultural Dissemination of the Chemistry Institute of the University of São Paulo (CDCC-USP) and at the Social Service of Commerce (SESC), both located in the city of São Carlos, was analyzed. These locations were chosen because they are institutions that promote free access to the community, constituting institutions that are active in the process of digital inclusion. With different objectives – the CDCC prioritizes school activities for elementary and high school students – while the SESC has as one of its missions the promotion of leisure – both are initiatives to combat digital exclusion in the city. The analysis of the information search behavior of users sought to identify the overall search strategy used, including the use of search syntax and semantics, the sources of information and the uses of the Internet. Sixty-one questionnaires with closed and open questions were applied, consisting of an exploratory survey. In the national literature on Information Science, there are few studies that focus on information search behavior on the Internet, and only recently has a movement in favor of information education programs begun. Studies of this nature are welcome to contribute to the development of public policies for digital inclusion that aim to create conditions for access and that, simultaneously, contemplate the development of information literacy, so that users are able to critically evaluate sources and information retrieved in electronic environments, using them to meet their needs. International literature discusses the difficulty users encounter when they need to express what they want on the Internet in terms of the system's language. Some results of this research, although not conclusive, provided evidence that users have little familiarity with the Internet, perform 1 or 2 searches and use few terms in the formulation of the search expression, even though they retrieve the information they need.