Georeferencing of studies on information mediation in Brazil

Abstract

This research aims to represent studies in Information Mediation in Brazil, based on the analysis of research networks and territories, based on theses and dissertations available in the Catalog of Theses and Dissertations of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel. Bibliographical research, with a quali-quantitative approach, the technique of digital georeferencing was used, under the methodological concept for social cartography, in order to visualize the scientific community, in order to understand the relationships, influences and interactions that shape this community, with the help of the Gephi software and the Google Maps tool. The results include the identification of the human and institutional research network on the topic in focus, with the Northeast region having the highest number of defended papers. The concentration of studies in the Postgraduate Programs in Information Science occurs, above all, from the network formed by the professors who guide this subject and, the continuity of research by students in other postgraduate levels. It is concluded that the presence and representativeness of the term "mediation of information" in research at postgraduate level, indicate evidence of its validation as a scientific field, observing the development of theoretical and methodological autonomy in the investigation of phenomena related to the access, use and appropriation of information.