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Kajian Dalam Bidang Ilmu Perpustakaan dan Informasi: Filosofi, Teori, dan Praktik
Formulation of the Problem

WhatsApp is expected to create a new, more effective pattern, especially
in terms of exchange of research information, storage and retrieval of
scientific information. As a virtual space, WhatsApp technology enables
the development of a network facilitating the organization of research
activities. This potential is tangent to the organizational context so that
WhatsApp infrastructure cannot be called a mere tool, but rather a “socio-
technical networks” in an area, so the development of this infrastructure
is the development of social informatics which contains elements of
telematics technology and social processes (Kling, 2000). It also contains
the belief that technology has the potential to support research activities in
research groups such as scientific communication, exchange of research
information, and discussions to prepare proposals or writing research
results in Scientific Collaboration Research. Besides, through WhatsApp,
it is possible to share knowledge and research experience stored in a certain
place (knowledge repository).
By understanding how UI’s research community has interpreted
WhatsApp as a social informatics entity, this research is expected to
provide the following benefits: develop a more appropriate pattern of
socialization of technology utilization. The ways and patterns of WhatsApp
utilization in research activities in the UI vary widely. By understanding
how UI researchers interpret and use WhatsApp, this research is expected
to produce a complete knowledge about the perceptions, behaviors, and
aspirations of researchers about WhatsApp

II. THEORY DISCUSSION
This research is guided by the main theory, namely the theory of the
structure of Anthony Giddens. This main theory is then used in conjunction
with two other theories used to provide the further meaning of research
data, namely the Community of Practice of Etienne Wenger, and the
Adaptive Structuration theory of Poole and DeSanctis. Here is a discussion
of the theories.

A. Community of Practice
On its website (https://wenger-trayner.com/theory/), Etienne Wenger,
one of the proponents of the Community of Practice theory (hereinafter
CoP) explains that CoP is formed by a group of people with similar interests
and strives to learn the areas they are interested in. In the explanation,
it should be underlined that CoP is directly linked to collective learning
activities. In the next explanation, Wenger has always stressed the

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