INTERNET AS A CHANNEL OF SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

Abstract

This research seeks to verify the use of Internet as a formal channel of scientific communication in federal institutions of higher education (IFES) in Brazil as an alternative for the socialisation of knowledge produced. It localises, identifies and characterises the documents made available by IFES in the south of Brazil (the Federal Universities of Santa Catarina, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Maria and Pelotas). It concludes that the use of Internet as a channel of scientific communication is very incipient in the universities researched. It recommends that the IFES encourage the process of scientific communication by establishing policies of scientific dissemination by means of the creation of "open files" and electronic publications.