This paper presents the results of a study that aimed at verifying if the contents of the CAPES Digital Library of Scientific Journals attend the information needs of users in the area of dentistry. In the literature review, the article traces the evolution, consolidation and trends of digital libraries of electronic journals and analyses the research about the use of the CAPES Digital Library by scholars in the health sciences and correlated areas. The study identified 91 journal titles cited in the bibliography references of the thesis and dissertations defended in the period from 2000 to 2005 at the School of Dentistry of Araraquara, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) which were compared with those present in the CAPES Digital Library. The results show, for the area of dentistry, the periodicals which were cited but were not in the CAPES Digital Library, the periodicals which were in the CAPES Digital Library but were not cited and the number of times each title was cited. This analysis also gathered data about the journal titles which have the highest citation rates by the graduate students in order to verify the adequacy of the library journal collection to the information needs of the users.
CAPES Digital Library of Scientific Journals; e-journals; digital libraries; university libraries; user study