The Shoemaker’s Son: A Substantive Theory of Social Media Use for Knowledge Sharing in Academic Libraries

• Author / Creator

  Forcier, Eric

• In the last decade social media have become integrated in the knowledge sharing practices of libraries. While an entire genre of literature is devoted to the use of social media for promotion (i.e., ‘Library 2.0’), little research has been done on the use of social media for organizational knowledge sharing in academic libraries. Using knowledge management as a framing discourse, this study addresses the gap in the literature by examining social media use at two academic libraries. Analysis of qualitative interviews with 14 librarians using a Grounded Theory approach produces a substantive theory of social media use for knowledge sharing in academic libraries, revealing that these tools are underused for the purpose of dialogue and the sharing of tacit knowledge, and providing practical implications for their future implementation. This study establishes a theoretical framework for the examination of how social media are used in organizations that can inform future research.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Qualitative research
  • Grounded theory
  • Academic libraries
  • Facebook
  • Library and information science
  • Twitter
  • Qualitative coding
  • Organizational practices
  • Knowledge management
  • Social media

• Graduation date

  Spring 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts/Master of Library and Information Studies

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3B300

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.