Biblioteca universitária como dispositivo de mediação da informação no processo de afiliação estudantil: o caso dos(as) bolsistas do Serviço de Residência Universitária da UFBA

Abstract

The librarians of the reference service in the environment of the university library play a crucial role as mediators of information in the process of student affiliation and can favor the permanence of scholarship students of the Serviço de Residência Universitária (SRU) [University Residence Service] – of the Pró-Reitoria de Ações Afirmativas e Assistência Estudantil (Proae) [Affirmative Actions and Student Assistance Office] of the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) – at the University, as well as in their academic spaces. Affiliation usually occurs in the first year after the student's admission and goes through three stages: strangeness, learning, and affiliation. The student achieves success when they achieve student affiliation. If the student fails to reach the affiliation stage, there is a possibility that they will drop out of the course or university. Therefore, the mediation of information can be considered an action that works around these students' difficulties through access and appropriation of information, which can support the achievement of a protagonist posture on the students’ part. From this perspective, this research aims to show how the librarians of the reference service, as mediators of information in the university library environment, support the scholarship students of UFBA’s SRU during the affiliation process. As for the methodology, this is descriptive research using the case study method since the study takes UFBA’s libraries as its object. The data collection technique was the application of questionnaires, and the participants who answered were the resident scholarship students of the UFBA’s SRU and the librarians of the reference service of the university libraries of UFBA. After data collection, a quantitative approach was adopted to analyze the measurable answers and a qualitative approach to interpret the answers. Among the results, it is outlined that the university library carries out actions that contribute to student affiliation, participating in activities during the reception of new students in the first weeks of class. To reiterate this result, it should be noted that of the 44 resident scholarship holders 40 believe that librarians have the potential to contribute to welcoming students. On this basis, the considerations of this study indicate that university libraries, by mediating information, have a high potential to contribute to the process of student affiliation. However, it is necessary that the activities are strategically planned with a focus on the resident scholarship students, and that these actions occur continuously, with wide dissemination, so that these subjects are welcomed and included, achieving emancipation and a leading posture.