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Kajian Dalam Bidang Ilmu Perpustakaan dan Informasi: Filosofi, Teori, dan Praktik

but sometimes I am passive. However, I think WhatsApp is quite
helpful to broaden the horizons. [CS-1]
Some informants acknowledged that the WAG-especially the
international WAGs-also provide the latest information on developments
in the field of her interest. For example, an informant (CS-1) always gets
news about the latest publications through the WAGs. To be a recipient, she
does not feel the need to be too active to participate in the discussion
One informant revealed more specifically his reluctance to be a
member of WAGs because “I don’t like when the WAG is just gossiping. I
am usually not too active in the group and then leave the group for various
reasons.” (CS-2). This last informant specifically also complained about
why anyone could get into the WAGs, and sometimes even become trouble
maker in it.

V. ANALYSIS OF WHATSAPP’S USE BY LECTURERS

Messenger and WAGs in Research Activities
The existence of CoPs can be used as a context for the use of WhatsApp
for lecturers involved in collaborative research. From the interviews on the
use of WhatsApp messenger, it appears that the use of message is related
to research activities with the community, especially as an extension of
the direct meeting, and not as a substitution. Furthermore, WhatsApp is
especially useful after all issues related to research planning have been
solved. In the planning stages, researchers still prefer direct face-to-face
relationships. If any WhatsApp is used, it is usually as a means of delivering
material which is considered faster. In the data collection and analysis
phase, WhatsApp is often considered to have more roles compared to the
planning phase.
The results of the interviews show the informants familiar to WhatsApp
and at least consider that access the application is not a difficult problem.
In general, informants as CoP members use WhatsApp contacts in the
context of research activities with their communities. That friendships
with the same interest colleagues are conditions that strongly support the
use of WhatsApp. WAGs facility is also seen as an alternative to wider
interpersonal contacts within the researcher network context.
WhatsApp as a means of information transfer becomes a more useful
tool for overcoming space and time constraints in the research process
but is not relied upon in the development of more substantial interactions
in research activities. Likewise, WAGs are not a means of scientific
discussion, though as information exchange, they can be a pathway to
fostering a research network that is one of the ecological elements in which

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