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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

San Jose State University

2016

School of Information Student Research Journal

Information communities

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Glu: An Online Type 1 Diabetes Information Community, Stefanie Witt Jun 2016

Glu: An Online Type 1 Diabetes Information Community, Stefanie Witt

School of Information Student Research Journal

This research paper examines the online health community Glu (MyGlu.org), a type 1 diabetes social media site. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic medical condition that requires constant and specialized medical attention. Online health communities like Glu, are an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle for many of its members. This study discusses the composition of this information community, the motivations of its members, and the benefits members gain through their participation. It describes the major characteristics of the community and focuses on the information needs of type 1 diabetics. It concludes with reflections on how libraries and LIS …


The Tumblarians, Tamarack Hockin Jan 2016

The Tumblarians, Tamarack Hockin

School of Information Student Research Journal

This paper examines the tumblarians as an information community and discusses community membership, information behaviours, and complementary models for a situated understanding of this unique personal-professional community. A review of the literature concerning LIS bloggers is presented as a complement to the tumblarians, who have no in depth treatment in the research as yet. Characteristics particular to the tumblarians are explored through informal conversation with a community member, and Fisher, Unruh, and Durrance's (2003) information communities model is employed to provide a deeper understanding of the information behaviour of the tumblarians. This paper offers suggestions for future research based on …