Acessibilidade informacional para usuários surdos na biblioteca da Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia – UFRA, campus Belém.

Abstract

Introduction and context: Accessibility has been the subject of academic debates in different areas, and Information Science has specifically focused on both physical and informational accessibility. The academic community of the Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia - UFRA, Belém Campus, participates in this debate since it has deaf students and professors in its academic community. The interest in this research arose from the researcher's experience with deaf people, serving deaf students and professors in the library and as a member of the UFRA Accessibility Center. Concepts: It is based mainly on information mediation and literature on the deaf from a cultural perspective, informational accessibility and accessible university libraries. Research problem: In what aspects do the information mediation services offered by the UFRA Belém campus library meet the demands of deaf users who speak sign language, according to the informational accessibility parameters of this linguistic minority? Justification: In the social aspect, the research contributes with reflections that make it possible to promote access to information in an inclusive manner, providing deaf people with quality education, collaborating with their personal and professional fulfillment, providing their integration into society, and guaranteeing the law of inclusion in education. In the scientific and disciplinary scope, the research contributes to the construction of knowledge on information accessibility in libraries, especially in university libraries, as there is a lack of studies on the subject, identified in recent research. General objective: To analyze the information mediation services offered by the library of UFRA campus Belém related to meeting the demands of deaf users according to the information accessibility parameters of this linguistic minority. Specific objectives: To identify the resources available in the library, to mediate information in a way that is accessible to deaf people according to their linguistic difference; to verify with deaf students at UFRA, whether the ways in which services are made available in the library meet the communicational parameters of this public; to discuss the perspectives for information mediation in the library, so as to contemplate the linguistic needs of deaf users. Methodology: This is a case study from an Information Science approach. The data collection was carried out with the staff and users of the UFRA Library, Belém campus, through interviews and questionnaires, respectively, in addition to document analysis. The data were processed using content analysis, of the categorical type, and four categories were chosen: Lack of material in Libras; Communication barriers; Potentialities and gaps. Results: One of the main points is the communication barrier with users, mainly in the mediation of information, and the lack of dissemination of some services that can be accessible in Libras. For a short period, there was video production with translation into Libras informing some library services/products. It was also observed that deaf users have difficulty finding the book in the collection, as there is no visual signage; there is no provision for acquiring material that includes deaf users.