Arquitetura da informação em ambientes informacionais digitais: avaliação de websites de organizações de saúde

Abstract

Herewith we present the results of the research whose main objective is to evaluate the presence of the information architecture components in the websites of secondary and tertiary care hospitals at the State of Ceará, aiming to contribute to the access to the information demanded. Our theoretical background has to do with the relationship between science information and health sciences and information architecture. The methodology used was based on exploratory and descriptive research aiming at deepening the knowledge about information architecture, information science and health organizations as well as detailing the phenomena observed. The structuralist method guided our analysis so that we could understand how information architecture systems present themselves in the structure of the websites investigated. The study of the websites was conducted by a content analysis observing the information architecture components. The environment of the research consisted of four (4) websites of health organizations considered as secondary and tertiary. The results show that the systems of organization, labeling, navigation and search, which make up the information architecture are present in the websites, even if not in their totality nor in an efficient way. We identified some problems, among them: non-standardized contents, non-enabled hyperlinks, hierarchically unstructured content, ambiguous or decontextualized textual and iconographic labels. We conclude that, although some information architecture components were identified in the websites investigated, it is necessary to pay attention to other components that could improve the quality of the interface of the websites in order to enhance the quality of information access by users. Aiming to contribute in this sense, we made a checklist to help us in the planning and construction of information architecture systems in health organizations websites.