Semantic portals from sociothecnical perspective of the actor-network theory

ABSTRACT Semantic portals, such as socio-technical artifacts, involve different actors that are aligned to offer communication and information search services more quickly and accurately. The objective of this study is to describe the network of actors involved in the construction of semantic portals and their interrelationships. The precepts of the Actor-Network Theory were used as a methodology to design a network of semantic portals from selected studies in the literature. The results indicated that the design of the network of semantic portals points to actions of human actors: portal administrators, portal developers and end users, but also of non-human actors, which are made up mainly of technologies. Each actor has his or her interest contemplated as the other actors fulfill their roles towards a common goal - information of high added value. It can be concluded that the study of the features of the portal actors' network can guide changes in current standards, focusing on the quality of research results and the informational needs of the user community.