Let’s collaborate: Exploring Library and Information Science lecturers’ and students’ experience of social media as a collaboration tool through phenomenography

Abstract

This research aims to explore variations in the ways Library and Information Science (LIS) lecturers and students experience social media as a collaboration tool at one Indonesian university. The method for this research is phenomenography because this research aims to explore variations of experience. The social media platform that we investigated is a Facebook group. The research data was collected from interviews with seven participants who were either a lecturer or a student at the university and also the member of the Facebook group that was investigated. The findings of this research are presented in two sets: lecturers’ experience and students’ experience. In the lecturers’ experience of the Facebook group, six categories were revealed: Substituting learning management system; Sharing information; Staying connected; Streamlining lecturers’ teamwork; Lacking students’ participation; and Finding uninformed students. In the students’ experience of the Facebook group, six categories were revealed: Staying informed; Sharing information; Staying connected; Substituting learning management system; Feeling unsatisfied with the platform features; and Being passive members. The findings of this research provide insights into variations in the ways Indonesian LIS teaching staff and students experience the Facebook group as a collaboration tool. As the first empirical research explores this phenomenon, this research provides a research base of social media practice to support teaching and...