A Biblioteca Nacional Digital e a premência de realização de estudo de usuários

Abstract

Libraries are there to serve the user and meet their information needs and to make this possible it is essential to know them. The user study is considered an important tool for the library diagnosis because, through it, it is possible to identify if the available services and contents are adequately serving the individuals. However, with the advancement of technology and the spread of digital libraries, remote access to digital collections has become an increasingly common activity among researchers, which hinders interaction between librarians and researchers. This research aims to reflect on the need to conduct a study of users of the National Digital Library of Brazil (BNDigital). For such, it raises the concepts of national and digital libraries approached in the researched literature highlighting their particularities in relation to other types of libraries; presents the history, projects and role played by BNDigital; explores user study concepts and approaches; deals with the centrality of the user in the current ones and; exhibits user study initiatives in national and digital libraries. In view of the relevance of the role of the National Library of Brazil with regard to the capture, storage, preservation and diffusion of Brazilian intellectual production, such study is necessary because it is believed that from the reflections and initiatives presented here it will be possible to assist and encourage future user study initiatives at both BNDigital and other cultural institutions that keep their collections digitized online.