An overview of scientific productions on information architecture in the context of Information Science

Abstract

Objective. Provide an overview of the scientific production on Information Architecture in the context of Information Science.Method. It is characterized as an exploratory and qualitative-quantitative study which used bibliometric techniques and content analysis. The scientific productions were retrieved from the Information Science Database (BRAPCI) and SCOPUS, as they bring together a significant quantity of productions on IA in the Brazilian and international contexts, respectively.Results. As a result, bibliometric indicators are presented (main authors and means publications, authors' countries of origin, recurring keywords and number of publications per year), and the thematic categories of the productions analysed are highlighted. We highlight the productions that mention IA, but focus on other discussions such as Usability, Accessibility and Findability, pointing out the relevance of IA as complementary to these other studies. Besides the productions with proposal, analysis, or evaluation of digital environments, where it is employed the systemic approach of IA and it was possible to observe that, in the Brazilian context, the applications focus on academic environments and, in the international context, on corporate environments. Conclusions. We conclude that the analysed productions collaborate with the social function of IC, demonstrating concern with the users of information, besides being relevant in the context of the post-custodial paradigm of Information Science, where the dissemination, access and use of information are valued, and, consequently, it is necessary that such information be organized and presented in a suitable way for its target audience.