Thematic analysis & Library & Information science

LIS is a large field that covers several different research areas. Within LIS there has been

research conducted regarding the library’ use of social media. In addition, the content exchanged

in a social network can depend on the medium used to transmit information. Social media as an

information exchange medium will also depend on the application used to make connections.

Content from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have all been analyzed in various ways.

For example, Xie and Stevenson (2014) conducted an analysis of the use of social media

applications, Facebook and Twitter, to discover its usage in digital library environments. Xie and

Stevenson (2014) found a lack of standards and consistencies in terms of how digital librarians are

posting information via social media applications, and that information posted is loosely oriented

with the purpose of promoting the digital library or making connections. Aharony (2010)

evaluated the differences of tweets produced by 30 academic and 30 public libraries, including the

wording and content of tweets and the number of tweets produced by each. Aharony found that

academic libraries used only formal language while public libraries used a mix of both and that

the content analysis was broken down into information about library events, book

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Colburn and Haines (2012) categorized and analyzed YouTube comments to understand if the

outreach projects carried out by a library were successful. Waters and Lo (2012) analyzed non-

profit organizations’ use of Facebook to find that the communication patterns, including

information sharing, were the main type of engagement that took place. Despite the different

social media applications used, communication and making connections are key points of online

communities.

The LIS research had practical outcomes for libraries using social media. The various

findings all provided insight into how the librarians were using social media and the information

exchanged, thus providing librarians with more background to improve their social media

exposure. Social media needs to be researched within the context that it was created, meaning that

the highly interactive spaces of online communities need to have multi-step approaches to get the

full picture.

2.4 Social network analysis

Social network analysis is a framework that measures structural relations between members

of a network. The ultimate purpose of social network analysis (SNA) is to explain the behind the

scenes development and interactions in a network. John Barnes first theorized the concept of SNA

in 1954. Since its conception, the theory has grown to encapsulate many different fields and

research areas, including anthropology, sociology, and computer science. SNA focuses on the

asymmetric ties, hierarchical structures, and unique characteristics of different communities

(Wellman, 1983). For example, SNA has original findings from Coleman’s 1986 research on

theories of social action. Coleman suggested that the system of behavior extends from small

individual actions to large actions that consume the whole community. The direction of social

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is the measurement of these individual behaviors within the large network, thus, analyzing

structural relationships and pattern ties of a network.

The strength of SNA comes from its visualization potential and measurement of an

immense framework. Nodes represent actors that are a part of the social network. The edge is the

representation of the tie between two nodes. Nodes are represented by points, and the edges are

represented by lines. Together they are the visual representation of a social network. When

describing the analysis of relationships between the nodes and edges, the terms actors and ties are

used as descriptors. The nodes can be abstract or physical and are representations of individuals or

institutions. For example, an abstract group would be subject words in a library database. A

physical example would a group of people in a friendship network; these people are the actors,

represented by nodes; their relationships illustrated by edges, ties. The path of the node illustrates

the connectedness that exists amongst the nodes. Therefore, the length of the path is also quite

revealing as it provides more insight into the interactivity in the network. The connections

between the nodes can be directional or non-directional. The lack of ties amongst the nodes

illustrates the network’s variables. Additionally, SNA has the ability to explain variation amongst

the different nodes at different points within the network. Scott (2000) described the relations

between nodes as the social positions or relations within the social network; this provides the

framework for the social network.

These SNA concepts explore a multitude of different types of research, particularly with the

cultural inclusion of the use of social media use. Within a larger scope, a social network can

consist of a community of a number of different environments. For example, SNA research from

the 1960s was prominent within the sociology research community. Today, due to the rapid

development of technology and widespread use of internet, the evaluation of online social

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a framework to evaluate media use and public agenda, to provide a better understanding of news

coverage. The relationships that can emerge from SNA can be very revealing. The integration of

social media into culture requires a better understanding of the use to provide better services to

the public. The quantitative data gathered from SNA enables the identification and evaluation of

how information moves in a social network. Through the understanding of the information

exchange, researchers and practitioners can ensure accurate sources.

This section will explore different capacities of SNA, including information sharing,

representation, roles of actors with the network, social structure, and participating roles. SNA will

also be discussed within parameters of subjects like social media, LIS, and archival science; and

how these areas can be enhanced by SNA.