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Article
Developing Online Communities for Librarian Researchers: A Case Study
College & Research Libraries (2017)
  • Lili Luo, San Jose State University
  • Marie R. Kennedy, Loyola Marymount University
  • Kristine R. Brancolini, Loyola Marymount University
  • Michael Stephens, San Jose State University
Abstract
This study examines the role of online communities in connecting and supporting librarian researchers, through the analysis of member activities in the online community for academic librarians that attended the 2014 Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL). The 2014 IRDL cohort members participated in the online community via Twitter and a Facebook group page. A content analysis of their posts and an online survey among them identified different patterns of engagement and four primary types of content—posts related to completing the IRDL research project required for each cohort member, announcements about research-related resources and opportunities, posts reminiscing about the IRDL experience, and arrangements of conference attendance and meetups. Implications for successfully designing online communities for librarian researchers are discussed.
Publication Date
2017
DOI
10.5860/crl.78.4.512
Publisher Statement
This article was originally published in College & Research Libraries, volume 78, issue 4, 2017. It is also available online at this link.

Copyright Lili Luo, Marie Kennedy, Kristine Brancolini, Michael Stephens.
Citation Information
Lili Luo, Marie R. Kennedy, Kristine R. Brancolini and Michael Stephens. "Developing Online Communities for Librarian Researchers: A Case Study" College & Research Libraries Vol. 78 Iss. 4 (2017) ISSN: 0010-0870
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/lili_luo/33/
Creative Commons license
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-NC International License.