A virtual library for building community and sharing knowledge

Libraries are hubs for social and intellectual interactions in communities and organizations. Virtual libraries should serve the same purpose, yet virtual libraries often focus simply on making their holdings available. In this article an on-line corporate library is described that places knowledge sharing and community building at the core of its design. The library system supports personal websites that are visible to the entire organization. Personal topic profiles for library research services, information services choice and collaborative research requests provide employees with views of each others' activities and interests. In particular, information about research questions being asked across all parts of the organization provides a unique window on the company's goals and activities. Collaboration and interest-matching tools help employees to share knowledge across the oraganization and to form special interest communities. (C) 1999 Academic Press.