Course:LIBR559A/Forcier,E., Rathi, D. & Given, L. M. (2013)

Citation

Forcier, E., Rathi, D. & Given, L. M. (2013). Knowledge management and social media: a case study of two libraries in Canada. Journal of information & knowledge management, 12(4). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263901775_Knowledge_Management_and_Social_Media_A_Case_Study_of_Two_Public_Libraries_in_Canada

Annotation

The article explores the use of social media tools in the KM domain in two public libraries in Canada.

Knowledge management practices are relevant to libraries, considering the large number of librarians that will retire in this decade and will leave institutions with more than 20 years of work. The technology enables organizations to retain and transfer knowledge, at a low cost. And social media are a way for non-profit organizations to manage knowledge for effectiveness and efficiency. Social media has been used in libraries, for internal and external purposes, for example, communicating events to patrons and article sharing among workers.

The research studied two public libraries in Alberta, Canada. One was a multi-branch public library system, serving an urban population of approximately 1 million people. And the other one was a single-branch library in a rural community with approximately 10.000 people. The study found that the libraries had different contexts and so, different uses of social media and other tools within the library. For example, the multi-branch library had an intranet and embraced social networking websites for internal and external communications. And the rural library had a more basic need, using social media – Facebook – only with the external purpose.

The article consisted of an exploratory qualitative research, with a face-to-face interview. The data collected were analyzed using grounded theory approach, under the social constructionist theoretical framework.

The article introduced the novel idea of social media as a knowledge management tool in public libraries. Usually, social media are seen only as a tool to communicate with patrons, and not among colleagues. The article is relevant because it brings knowledge management, which is an important topic, especially for the LIS field, considering that commonly, libraries have employees with decades of work in the institution, and leave the organization with the knowledge of how to perform their work. And for bringing social media as a viable tool to be used in knowledge management practices.

The weakness of the article is associated with the lack of information of why the authors choose the libraries. Two libraries with very different contexts were chosen, and the results were not a surprise because it was clear that possibly the urban library would have advantages related to the use of social media. It would be more interesting if the study were conducted among libraries with similar characteristics, for example, the multi-branch public library of Alberta and the Vancouver Public Library.

Areas, topics and keywords

Knowledge management. Social media. Public libraries.

Page author Paula Arasaki