Necessidades, busca e uso da informação: estudo de caso em um setor de help desk de indústria cimenteira multinacional

Abstract

This academic research examined a help desk environment of a branch of the cement business, a world leader in its industry, identifying needs, information seeking behavior and the uses of information by the help desk technicians. The theoretical framework was structured by studies of authors that discuss the main aspects of information behavior as well as information about the main characteristics of call centers and help desk sectors. The information needs were analyzed through the identification of situations where the technical help desk need to act. The information seeking behavior was evaluated by examining the main sources used by these professionals, in terms of frequency, relevance and reliability. The information use behavior was assessed on the basis of the activities performed by the help desk technicians, since solve problems to sharing and storage of information for later use. We analyzed questionnaires sent to 19 technicians and two interns who play the role of media in IT in the company selected, and interviews were done with the leadership of the sector. The results indicated that the main sources of information used by technicians of help desk sectors are internal, not electronic and personal, especially the contact with colleagues in the company and with heads and supervisors, the use of email and use of the system internal help desk support. The work showed that the main information uses were the learning, the sharing and the storage of information through the system internal help desk support. Finally, suggestions are given for further research.