Aproximações entre serviço de referência, mediação e as leis de Ranganathan

Abstract

The Reference Service is a topic widely investigated in the specialized literature of Librarianship, whose studies include different approaches, both with theoretical and empirical bias. Most studies start from a practical analysis, considering work experiences and the procedures applied to evaluate the service, its resources, its use and user satisfaction. The scarcity of in-depth studies that present the bases or principles that underlie this service, with the intention of proposing its management, constitutes a gap not yet fully resolved by the literature. The objective of this study is to correlate the reference service with the concept of information mediation, fundamental in library activities, and with the Librarianship Laws, established by Ranganathan. The investigation explores and describes definitions, contextualizing the reference service as the representative element of mediation and correlating it with Ranganathian laws. The study is characterized as descriptive and qualitative, supported by a theoretical-conceptual investigation, conducted by content analysis. The results reveal that the reference service establishes close relationships both with the concept of mediation and with the Librarianship Laws, whose characteristics are: assistance provided in the search for information, interaction with the user, personal assistance, guidance, supply of information sources and user training. It is concluded that the reference service is based on principles that strengthen it, which justifies the value it has assumed for institutions, as it enables access, use and appropriation of information for the production of knowledge by society.