ICML 9

9º World Congress on Health Information and Libraries

Salvador, Bahia - Brazil, September, 20 to 23 - 2005

BVS4

4th Regional Coordination Meeting of the VHL

September, 19 to 20 - 2005

Scientific communication in the community of the Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz / FIOCRUZ: invisible colleges and gatekeepers

Participants:
  • Professor Adjunto, Departamento de Documentação e Informação do Instituto de Ciência da Informação da Universidade Federal da Bahia - ICI/DDI/UFBA  - Brasil

Scientific communication in the community of the Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz / FIOCRUZ: invisible colleges and gatekeepers

This work aims to study of the communication channels used by the scientific community of the Gonçalo Moniz Research Center – CPqGM/FIOCRUZ/BAHIA, in order to investigate how the scientists organize themselves during the research activity, how they communicate with each other and with the external community, and whether there is a noticeable system of communication with the “invisible colleges”. Were also investigated the barriers existent in the process of scientific communication and its effects, the influence of periodicals on informal communication, on the formation of pairs and on the performance of “gatekeepers” of science with the use of new technologies and on the constitution of virtual communities. Materials and Methods: 1. CPqGM, technical-scientific unity of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation of the Ministry of Health, where are developed scientific researc h in infectious and parasitary diseases of regional and national importance; 2. Thirteen (13) laboratories, where are developed studies and experimental research according to the respective research lines; 3. Nineteen (19) researchers, who compose the scientific community of the CPqGM, which is both a producer and user of scientific information.    The study comprehended two parts: Part I – identification of the community through the profile outlined (SANTANA, 1999); Part II – identification of the scientific communication channels, formal and informal, used to acquire and disseminate the information during the research activity on the construction, communication and use of information. Procedures: application of the mixed technique involving questionnaire and personal interview. Results: the researchers used preferably the informal communication, and e-mail demonstrates the practical way in which they access the information technologies, forming a virtual net: the “invisible colleges”. As for the form al channels, the researchers give preference to the use of scientific periodicals, where they read and publish articles considered by the group as a work tool in the laboratories. The scientific community is structured based on informal institutions, which are the “invisible colleges”, and formal, which are the “scientific societies”, forming groups which maintain regular contact with their pairs, composing networks of invisible colleges, both on local, national and international levels.