The librarian of the Brazilian Northeast: thinking about the process of learning and competence in information

Abstract

The information professional perceives an informational need, uses reliable sources, analyzes, understands, uses information effectively, and produces, collaborates and shares information in participatory environments. Because of this prerogative, the article seeks to analyze issues inherent in the information competence of librarians in northeastern Brazil. For this purpose, the aim is to characterize the participants, elucidate how they proceed to determine needs and seek information, demonstrate how they proceed with informational election and collaboration. It is a descriptive research, with survey method, combining the quantitative and qualitative approaches. The instrument of data collection was the Survey questionnaire, elaborated based on the precepts on the subject of the American Library Association (ALA). The population of this research is the graduates of nine Federal Institutions of Higher Education (IES) that hold the course of Librarianship, however, the sample consisted of 237 participants. It is concluded, therefore, that in general the graduates are concerned with continuing education, which is extremely relevant for them to develop and employ skills that are in line with the requirements of the labor market. Moreover, although they demonstrate that they seek to apply their skills effectively in daily work, there is a certain inhibition in the exploitation of ICT resources, so there is a need to address this demand within the context of the learning process of professionals.