Professional networking withYahoo! Groups: A case of school librarians from international schools in Hong Kong

Abstract

The study explores how the group of school librarians from international schools in Hong Kong uses the Yahoo! Groups platform for their professional networking. In this case study quantitative and qualitative data were gathered and analyzed. Quantitative data about the groups’ use of Yahoo! Groups were extracted from the platform archive pages. An online questionnaire was sent to all group members to collect quantitative and qualitative data about their experience with social software and their views on Yahoo! Groups suitability for professional networking. The study findings show that the group members regularly use Messages, a web-based mailing list and occasionally use Files and Polls. While nearly half of the group members take part in discussions via Yahoo! Groups, only a small number posted most of the messages. Most popular discussion topics are reading, group’s administrative issues, professional development, and school library collection development. Group members mostly agree that Yahoo! Groups features which they use are user-friendly and that the platform is a convenient tool for the group. Although group members widely use various social software for leisure and for work purposes, most of them do not consider replacing Yahoo! Groups with another social networking tool.