The metacognition of users in the process of information search in collective catalogs of university library

Abstract

It was observed the metacognitive trajectory of three users from a public university library the state of Sao Paulo to identify the metacognitive strategies that were used during the process of searching for information in a online collective catalog. Its configuration was based on participants` oral reports obtained by the technique of individual verbal protocol to provide an actual configuration of the task ans a closer examination of its natural recovery of information systems. The data collection sessions were recorded, and the recorded data were transcribed and categorized into four units of analyses: 1- expertise, 2-regulation, 3-assessment of knowledge itself and 4- organization of cognitive process. The results showed that knowledge of meta-cognitive strategies affects the quality of the results obtained in the process of searching for information and interferes in the way it implements retrieval on-line catalog, a fact the emphasizes the need for studies to move forward on issues meta-cognition of users of information.