The role of digital libraries as boundary objects within and across communities

Worrall, Adam

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/42041 Copy

Description

Title

The role of digital libraries as boundary objects within and across communities

Author(s)

Worrall, Adam

Issue Date

2013-02

Keyword(s)

• digital libraries
• boundary objects
• communities
• social informatics
• social contexts
• information behavior
• social and community informatics
• qualitative data analysis
• quantitative data analysis

Abstract

Despite increased study of social contexts within information science, it is still unclear if and how digital libraries support and facilitate collaboration, communities, and other social contexts. This poster presents a study that will examine the role of the LibraryThing and Goodreads digital libraries, as social phenomena and boundary objects, in information behaviors and activities taking place within, between, and across multiple existing and emergent communities. The study will focus on the two key phenomena of communities and collaboration, under a theoretical framework drawing from Star’s boundary object theory, Strauss’s social worlds perspective, and Burnett and Jaeger’s theory of information worlds. Data will be collected from the two cases using a sequential, multi-phased mixed methods design employing content analysis, a survey, and interviews. The study should have significant implications for digital library research and practice and for related research on social networking, social media, and social Web services.

Publisher

iSchool

Type of Resource

image

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/42041

DOI

https://doi.org/10.9776/13327

Copyright and License Information

Copyright © 2013 is held by the authors. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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