Brazilian information science and academic collaboration networks: dialogues, constitution and perspectives

Abstract

The objective of this article is to present and discuss the field of Information Science in Brazil as far as the following topics are concerned: its collaborative aspects, the constitution of leadership in the area and the identification of a national research agenda. The work has been approached from the analysis of social nets (SNA), the bibliographical study of three scientific journals – Datagramazero, Perspectivas em Ciência da Informação and Ciência da Informação – during the period 2002-2007, and semi structured interviews. We have concluded that after 40 years of institutionalization in the field, Information Science has taken itself as an object of study due to the efforts to consolidate the scientific field. Information Science presents an unequal distribution of themes for research which can be noticed by the oscillation, influence and reflexes of the interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary dialogues with other areas of knowledge. Such elements have an impact on the structuring of a national agenda of research that can be in accordance with international tendencies. We would also like to point out that leadership in the area has been pulverized when political, intellectual and social aspects are observed.