Unraveling the Dynamics of Digital Library Community: a Social Network Analysis Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the networks of ‘academic community’ of Digital Library (DL) using various Social Network Analysis (SNA) tools and metrics. Digital Library emerged from convergence of several fields. This study is expected to give insight of how an interdisciplinary discipline evolved and emerged. Our research is in the direction of understanding the centrifugal forces in the shaping of the interdisciplinary field, most prolific countries and institutions of digital libraries. Based on the premise that the community structure of the academic community reflects the knowledge structure of the field, we draw inferences and conclusions on the dynamics of the digital libraries.