Resumen

AVILA ARAUJO, Carlos Alberto. The information user studies in Latin America. Infor [online]. 2023, vol.28, n.1, pp.185-209.  Epub 01-Jun-2023. ISSN 2301-1378.  https://doi.org/10.35643/info.28.1.8.

The purpose of this text is to present a synthesis of studies on information users in Latin America. The starting point is the observation of the diversity that shapes this field of study: different countries, different empirical objects, different methods of collecting and analyzing data, different theoretical models. As a criterion for mapping the field, the epistemological question was used, that is, the theoretical model in which the different studies are framed. Five major study perspectives will be found: the functionalist perspective (studies on the use of information, studies on user profile, planning and evaluation of libraries and information services, usability), the critical perspective (studies on exclusion, citizenship, epistemic justice ), studies of informational behavior (centered on the cognitive perception of individuals), studies of informational practices (centered on the social constitution of the use of information) and, finally, some contemporary perspectives are presented (studies of archive users, mediation on information literacy, social network users, studies on the informational subject, decolonial, feminist, black and LGBTQIA+ thinking and studies on disinformation). The conclusion points out that Latin American research on information users oscillates between the adoption of theoretical models imported from other countries (United States and European countries) and the creation of original studio perspectives.

Palabras clave : Information Users; Latin America; Information use; Information behavior; Information practices.

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