Redes de colaboração científica na produção acadêmica sobre gestão da informação : análise de dissertações e teses de Programas de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Informação da Região Nordeste

Abstract

Scientific collaboration networks are effective means of demonstrating social relationships and identifying key actors among their participants. The Postgraduate Programs in Information Science (PPGCI) represent a favorable environment for investigating collaborative relationships in Information Management (IM). Considering that IM is a process of organizing, storing, retrieving and using information within organizations, the study aims to analyze the scientific collaboration network on the topic of Information Management in the dissertations and theses of the Postgraduate Programs in the area of Information Science in the Northeast Region. Methodologically, it is characterized as exploratory, descriptive and documentary research, based on data collection in dissertations and theses, Institutional Repositories, Lattes Curriculum and Sucupira Platform, with a quantitative-qualitative approach and adoption of the social network analysis methodology. It uses Mendeley software to build spreadsheets and VOSviewer to visualize graphs. It identifies the dissertations and theses on the theme of GI defended in the PPGCI of the Northeast Region, between 2012 and 2023, characterizing them according to authorship, (co)advisory, year of completion and examining board. It represents the collaboration network in terms of actors, centrality, academic background and institutional link and maps the theoretical corpus of academic production in terms of keywords and stages of GI. The results indicate 56 dissertations, 4 theses and 188 actors, among which, 60 authors, 34 advisors, 2 co-advisors and 92 board members who researched GI in the PPGCI of the Northeast Region. The researchers from the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB) and the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) presented central positions, playing a key role in the articulation between different actors, a greater number of connections and high degree centrality. These researchers are mostly trained in the area of Information and Knowledge Management and Information Science. The keywords Information Management, Information Science and Knowledge Management prevail in the research. The analysis of the most frequent stages of Information Management in these studies involved the collection, organization, dissemination and use of information. The study contributes to revealing collaboration patterns, identifying research groups, verifying the distribution of scientific production, and highlighting researchers and institutions of greater relevance in the Region and in Information Science. It demonstrates the possible social relationships on the topic of Information Management in the PPGCI in the area of Information Science in the Northeast Region, serving as a basis for strengthening and expanding scientific collaboration networks, with the identification of new opportunities for collaboration.