The latin american national libraries and social capital

Abstract

This study aims at analyzing the use of the social web for the services of Latin American national libraries and ways to promote social capital in their community. We sought to determine which social media are used by the national libraries evaluating how they adapt to the library services and how they use them in order to promote social capital adopting therefore the theory of the Whuffie factor. We used the collection and mapping of social media as well as non-participant observation for the analysis of the examined national libraries’ websites. As a result the survey found that most national libraries use their websites and digital libraries to offer services and foster social capital among their interactors. It is subsequently concluded that the analyzed libraries also employ their web-based social media for administrative and dissemination purposes, and it is observed that, through determined practices identified in the libraries which were analyzed in this research, the other libraries may seek new ways and possibilities of interaction between their services and their interactors through these media and their websites.

Keywords:
National libraries; Social web; Whuffie fator; Social capital; Social Media