Adaptation of an instrument to evaluate the impact of school libraries: study with the Student Learning Through Ohio School Libraries (OELMA) questionnaire

Abstract

The impact of school libraries on student learning has not been systematically verified due to the lack of adequate tools, particularly in the national context. This study aims to adequate the instrument used in the Student Learning through Ohio School Libraries research of the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries to the Brazilian reality about its content, structure of the questions, the level of complexity and language. After adjustments and translation of the questionnaire into Portuguese, validated by three judges, it was applied to three classes of a Brazilian elementary school. We analyzed the responses regarding the purpose of the questions and checked the records observing the children´s attitude during the application. Based on the results, a new version of the questionnaire was elaborated and applied to classes of 4th and 5th year of elementary school. The results showed that most of the doubts and problems related to the questions in the first version of the questionnaire were resolved and it was adequate to the current Brazilian reality, especially concerning the content. Large-complementary studies can check his adequacy and the possible need for other adjustments.