University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2023

Abstract

The abundance of library associations provides many choices to academic librarians about where and how to belong. This exploratory article identifies and compares benefits of library professional organizations through content analysis of the groups' websites. Examination of the benefits described on the websites of 76 organizations indicates that they have a high degree of overlap. Many benefits are also achievable by participating in other external professional activities. While data were collected just prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, thematic analysis of these benefits provides a framework for comparing the value of participation in formal and informal professional communities.

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press

Publication Title

portal: Libraries and the Academy

ISSN

1530-7131

Volume

23

Issue

2

First Page

355

Last Page

385

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2023.0014

Language (ISO)

English

Keywords

library profession, professional organizations, professional development, professional community

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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