PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present an emergent conceptual framework for examining virtual communities.Design/methdodology/approachEstablished theories and models of community, social networks, information exchange, and information sharing behaviours are explored with the goal of determining their usefulness in conceptualising virtual communities.FindingsExplored theories and models are inter‐related and expanded to form a tiered conceptual framework for examining virtual communities. This framework also acknowledges the affective contexts in which virtual communities operate.Practical implicationsThe presented conceptual framework may inform information professionals tasked with creating, maintaining, and improving corporate, educational, research, and other information systems. It may also be of use to researchers who seek to build theory that attempts to explain phenomena observable in virtual communities.Originality/valueIn contrast to models and frameworks which focus on analysing individual components and attributes of virtual communities, the presented framework provides a holistic starting point for understanding inter‐related structural, cognitive, behavioural and affective dimensions of online communities

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This study examined the predictive relationship between library use by individual students and their retention status in university settings. The methodology builds on a small number of previous studies to examine library use at the individual level to determine if use of specific library services is predictive of retention for freshmen and sophomores. Binary logistic regression yielded results that indicate a strong positive predictive relationship between library use of any kind with both freshmen and sophomore retention. These results suggest that academic libraries add value to institutional retention efforts. tudent retention is an increasingly critical issue for institutions of higher education, with far-reaching effects on many other areas of life, including the well-being of students and society. Institutions of higher education face greater calls for accountability regarding different performance metrics, among them student retention and completion of degree programs. State legislatures and higher education coordinating agencies increasingly connect state funding with graduation rates.1 Institutions of higher education are often pressured to keep costs contained, while serving more students who lack the skills necessary to succeed in college. Frequent limitations to increases in tuition as a means of offsetting lost state appropriations lead to both enrollment and retention as high-stakes endeavors, not just for university administrators but also for students and society.2 Seidman provided a clear summary of the wide-ranging impact of student dropout:Attrition results in a severe loss of resources by society, by students, and by colleges that spend to provide programs and services to help retain and graduate students. When a student leaves college prematurely, any debt incurred must be repaid, despite the failure to graduate, and the college loses future funding in the form of tuition and fees and auxiliary services (bookstore, food service, and so forth) generated over time. The surrounding college community that supports the college, restaurants, movie theaters, and so on, also suffers an adverse economic impact when students leave. In addition, students may be turned off to the educational system in general, never returning to benefit from educational opportunities that may have helped with job

While many studies have been conducted under the auspices of calculating academic library value, there are no large-scale studies into the perceptions that college or university provosts have of library value, nor are there studies into how provosts prefer library value data to be communicated. This study addresses that gap through a national survey of public and private university provosts/chief academic officers, with attention to size of the institution, accrediting agency, and the status of librarians at the institution. An understanding of provosts' perceptions of library value and preferences for communication aid library directors as they seek to leverage the findings of value studies for library advocacy.