Encontrabilidade da informação em um repositório bilíngue (português - libras): o caso do Repositório Huet

Abstract

The Digital Repositories were created within the Information Age and open access for the scientific production context. They work as informational environments projected to store, maintain and spread data of digital origin or not. For diverse users, one of the attractive features in the use of digital environment, such as the repository, is that the information needed can be effectively found. For deaf people this is not different, considering that their needs when using the repository are often like those who hear. That way, this research intends to analyse the problem rising from the question: What is the perception of the deaf community of the Instituto Nacional de Educação de Surdos (INES – National Institute of Deaf Education) about the data findability in the Huet Digital Repository? Based within this horizon, this research main objective is to analyse the Huet Digital Repository data findability from the perspective of the INES deaf people community. Specifically, it intends to: a) link the concepts of Digital Repository, Data Findability and Deaf; b) identify the Huet Repository data findability characteristics from the Checklist use; c) describe the INES deaf community perception about the Huet Repository findability of digital objects for deaf people education. To fulfil such objectives the research is defined as descriptive, with a quali quantitative approach that uses an electronic questionnaire, there is also a semistructured interview as a tool for data collection. The sample to which the questionnaire was applied consists of 11 deaf and non deaf INES teachers. The semistructured interview was applied to five (5) deaf and non deaf INES students. Both tools were adapted from a checklist for the data findability features of informational environments. results show that not all the data findability features are present in the Huet Repository. Some of them have solvable problems. Besides that, the INES deaf community indicates important issues that are able to improve the digital environment analysed, that way breaking barriers to minorities digital inclusion, a linguistic minority in this case. This research does not reach a conclusion; however, it expects to stir up the discussion about findability, taking into consideration the opinions of the users, mainly the users that are part of minorities with diverse characteristics, which must be heard as well as the deaf ones.