Leveraging Online Communities for Building Social Capital in University Libraries

Abstract

This study investigates the development of social capital in university libraries using the Fudan University Medical Library (FUML) as the case. The authors first use the SWOT matrix to analyze the FUML based on librarian interviews, official websites, and previous literature. Next, they construct a social capital evaluation framework for university libraries with four dimensions (degree of user demand, level of trust, visibility, and status in users' minds). Guided by the framework, our findings indicate that FUML's user demands in recent years are optimistic, though trust, visibility, and library status vary in users' minds. Thus, they suggest some strategies to help improve patron-library relations through online communities, such as using social media, multi-online channel user feedback, and improving related employee training. This study provides insights into how university libraries can build online relations from social capital concepts. Scant studies have applied social capital to investigate the relationship between university libraries and students, especially in East Asia.