Iranian librarians' electronic communications: a case study of a discussion group

Abstract

This article aims to content analysis the Electronic Discussion groups of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad as a case study. The Population includes 1319 Emails sent to this group during December 27th till June 27th. This case study has been achieved by structured content analysis. Results show that the subject distribution includes 93.56% frequency in "Related to Library and Information Sciences (LIS)" group, 20.16 %frequency in "Subscription", 8.64% in "Spams", 7.65% in "Congratulation & Condolence", and 6.95% in "Miscellaneous". In the second phase, According to investigate about scientific communication amongst members, a qualitative content analysis has been made on the emails of "Related to LIS" group and it has been found that 194 emails have been dedicated to "News and Events related to Library and Information Sciences", 21 emails to "Information Technology news", 96 emails to "Iranian LIS".172 emails to "Conferences & Workshops",22 emails to "higher education", 131 emails to "New resources", 19 emails to "Searching for LIS professionals", 14 emails to "Employment", 14 emails to "Book Fair", 23 emails to "LIS social situation", and last but not least 156 emails to "ask a professional question" in LIS and related subjects.