A Semiotic Study on Academic Search Interfaces

Papers, books and others products of academic projects are available on the Internet, and with that, the use of digital libraries and academic search engines is essential for easy the access. However, how much more complex becomes the need of information, more complex becomes the transcription of this need in the search system language. In this work, have been inspected academic search interfaces, with evaluation of communicability and identification of four classes of signs and the actions that they map. Also, have been discussed the languages used in these systems and the type of user for which each is directed. Having thus, a first step in efforts to define a visual language for academic search, to be defined by adapting the signs and languages identified here.