Serviço de Referência Virtual nas Universidades Federais do Nordeste Brasileiro: aspectos descritivos

Abstract

The present work was dedicated to the descriptive survey of the Virtual Reference Service made available in university libraries of federal institutions of higher education, period in the state capitals of the Northeast region of Brazil during the period of global pandemic by the coronavirus identified as COVID-19. An investigation of qualitative data was carried out using individual information from each institution's website to develop and understand, in general, the predominant scenario in the offer and development of the Virtual Reference Service in each investigated library. Procedures carried out to establish a qualitative analysis were based on the recommendations in the theoretical references of literature specialized in Library Science and Information Science, followed by evidence of exploration in the investigated sites, which stage contributed considerably to the collection of descriptive data. The work aims to emphasize the importance and necessity of the Virtual Reference Service in the effective actions of university libraries, as well as the constant improvement of the skills of librarians who work directly in this service. Thus, consider that these professionals need to be able to familiarize themselves in order to understand the technological trends necessary to disseminate and promote the informational service of their public users. With that, the importance of the user study is noted, that is, a recognition of the predominant characteristics in the professional acting community, that is, the profile of its audience. As an outcome, it was found that in the Northeast region, only 28% of federal universities enable actions identified as Virtual Reference Service, considering the information required by the company's websites. It was found that these studied service modalities are better developed and implemented with resources compatible with current technological demands. In view of these aspects, it was detected that some of the Virtual Reference Services must be restructured with an architecture that emphasizes the accessibility of information to facilitate the use of this technological environment, since there was persistent the information in many of the services offered. It was also noticed that the investigated information units need to undergo changes that value the development of technological tools used in their respective sites to enhance improvements centered on facilities to meet the growing needs in resources and services of their academic community.