Purpose

Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) are becoming increasingly popular as professional networking. These communities support and shape professional development, especially in countries with limited opportunities and constrain like time and distance. This study throws light on the role of VCoP and its impact on the continuous professional development (CPD) of librarians in Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is carried out with qualitative research methods to understand effects of VCoP on CPD. With a thematic content analysis on the email conversations of a library and information science (LIS) Yahoo mailing group “plagpk”, the impact of virtual communities (VCs) on librarians' professional development in Pakistan over the past 20 years was analyzed.

Findings

This study demonstrates that VCs contribute to professional learning, problem-solving, knowledge creation, professional awareness and identity creation in the LIS field. Further, this study contributes a model to explain the formal and informal professional development for individuals and groups through VCoP engagement.

Social implications

It is hoped that this study will help the librarian community create, get involved in the VCoP for personal, professional development consciously and create an impact in the profession. The finding of this study is generalizable to any social sciences or humanities professionals VCoPs.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies in the LIS field to analysis the impact of VCs on the professional development of the librarians.

中文翻译：

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虚拟实践社区 (VCoP) 在图书馆员持续专业发展中的作用：以巴基斯坦雅虎邮件组为例

目的

虚拟实践社区 (VCoP) 作为专业网络变得越来越流行。这些社区支持和塑造专业发展，特别是在机会有限且时间和距离等限制的国家。本研究揭示了 VCoP 的作用及其对巴基斯坦图书馆员持续专业发展 (CPD) 的影响。

设计/方法/方法

本研究采用定性研究方法进行，以了解 VCoP 对 CPD 的影响。通过对图书馆和信息科学 (LIS) 雅虎邮件组“plagpk”的电子邮件对话进行主题内容分析，分析了过去 20 年虚拟社区 (VC) 对巴基斯坦图书馆员专业发展的影响。

发现

这项研究表明，风险投资有助于 LIS 领域的专业学习、解决问题、知识创造、专业意识和身份创造。此外，本研究提供了一个模型来解释个人和团体通过 VCoP 参与的正式和非正式专业发展。

社会影响

希望这项研究能够帮助图书馆员社区创建、有意识地参与 VCoP 以促进个人和专业发展，并在该行业产生影响。这项研究的结果可推广到任何社会科学或人文专业 VCoP。

原创性/价值

这是 LIS 领域最早分析 VC 对图书馆员职业发展影响的研究之一。