Conceptions about policies for the implantation of university libraries

a proposal for the Undergraduate and Graduate courses in Public Policies at the Federal University of Ceará

Abstract

It deals with conceptions of public policies for the implantation of university libraries. It has as a problem the following starting point: in what way is it possible to propose strategies for the implantation of a university library integrating graduation and postgraduation? In this way, the main objective is to investigate perspectives of proposition and implantation of the university library considering the reality of the Academic and Professional Postgraduate Programs in Public Policy Evaluation and the Graduate Course in Public Policy Management, all of the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), and, as specific objectives, to describe the fundamentals that characterize public policies for Brazilian higher education, to discuss the perspectives and strategies of public policies developed for university libraries, to identify aspects and categories that promote implantation the structuring of university libraries and, its final product, the proposition of a manual for the implementation of a university library that attends the Graduate Course in Public Policy Management and Postgraduate Programs in Public Policy Evaluation. The theoretical framework was based mainly on public policies for higher education, as well as for university libraries. It was also discussed about the basis for the planning and implementation of a university library. The methodology used for the purposes is descriptive, as far as the means is a bibliographical review, regarding the treatment of the data as quantitative and qualitative, through participant observation. About the data collection technique, questionnaires were applied with students and teachers, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the coordinators and the director of the center linked to the courses, as well as the directors of the UFC Library System. It is concluded that the research establishes mechanisms for the implantation of libraries based on the following elements: strategic planning aimed at the constitution of university libraries of public institutions; library management through the development of staff, collections, products, services, information and communication technologies; dynamization of these actions through research practices, mediation and information competence. These mechanisms aim at the implementation of a university library for the course and programs analyzed, as well as for interested academics from other universities.