Seeking Out Collective Wisdom: Examining Cataloguers’ Use of Social Media

Abstract

This study explores the frequency with which internet-based social media (namely wikis, blogs, forums and electronic mailing lists) are used by cataloguers to seek what Judith Hopkins defined as “specific (and immediate) current awareness” and “general current awareness” (2002, p. 377) with the aim of providing some insight into whether social media play a part in day-to-day practice and on-the-job learning of cataloguers based on their frequency of use. Sample survey research was selected as the method for this study. An online questionnaire was made available to self-selecting respondents via electronic mailing lists (AUTOCAT, CatSIG listserv, NZLibs listserv) and 176 responses were received. The study found that general current awareness information was more frequently sought via internet-based social media than specific (and immediate) current awareness. A weak positive correlation was also found within the sample between the variables of “number of cataloguers working in an organisation” and “frequency of accessing social media to seek general current awareness information.” Qualitative data was also gathered concerning the reasons respondents sought both specific and general current awareness information. The results of this study suggest that internet-based social media is a useful, and used, tool for cataloguers to access cataloguing-specific information, both specific (and immediate) current awareness and to a greater degree general current awareness information, to support their day-to-day practice and learning, opportunities for professional development, and contact/networking with peers.