Information retrieval in Information Science: Brazilian academic-scientific production (2012-2021)

Information retrieval is an area of study native to computer science, whose term was coined only in 1951. However, for over 5000 years, humanity has been organizing information for its search and retrieval. With the advent of computers, the term that was only of interest to librarians had its development accelerated. Current challenges involving new devices and phenomena, such as Big Data, continue to encourage studies in the area to provide users with access to information. This paper aims to identify the Brazilian academic-scientific production on information retrieval in information science in the last 10 years. The research is descriptive and exploratory, with a quali-quantitative approach, through an integrative bibliographic review in the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations from 2012 to 2021. Sixty-nine documents were selected, categorized into 27 themes. The highest frequency of documents was observed for the themes: user studies, search engines, information representation, retrieval model, and thematic representation. It was observed that the most recent themes are presented as of 2016 and the largest number of works is linked to the Federal University of Minas Gerais. In the context of Information Science, information retrieval has a strong connection with the organization and representation of information and makes up an almost inseparable relationship. The study is a resource for new researchers, helping to publicize existing contributions and instigating new reflections on the retrieval of Information in Information Science.