![Sample our Law journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5942/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Law.jpg"})
Abstract
Social capital is a way of viewing group relationships and the flow of information. Like many other types of students, law students have their own particular groups that affect how and when they interact with the library and how they seek out information. Because of these group dynamics law students may find it difficult to come to librarians when they need help. Positioning the library as a third space, and librarians as third people, is one way to build connections with students and build a community where students feel comfortable using the library. This article discusses the concept of social capital and group dynamics, third spaces, and the various ways librarians can build the library community to be open to all students through outreach, programming, and social media.
Notes
1 Hannah Gascho Rempel & Mary Markland, Bridging the Relationship Gap: Using Social Network Theories to Inform Library Services for Graduate Students, Libr. with Lead Pipe, Oct. 3, 2018, https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/bridging-the-relationship-gap/.
2 Shweta Mishra, Social Networks, Social Capital, Social Support and Academic Success in Higher Education: A Systematic Review with a Special Focus on Underrepresented’ Students, 29 Educ. Rsch. Rev. 100370, 100308 (2020).
3 Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 13.
4 Id. at 4.
5 Id. at 26.
6 Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 25.
7 Id.
8 Id. at 26.
9 Id. at 14
10 Id.
11 Id.
12 Mishra, supra note 2 at 2. Additionally, establishing bridging bonds can result in a “higher likelihood of a successful degree completion.” Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 26.
13 Endang Fatmawati, et al., Functional Shift of Library: The Third Space; Production, 1 Soc. Sci. & Human. 19 (2018), https://doi.org/10.29037/digitalpress.401237.
14 Stephanie Everett, Visualizing the Silent Dialogue about Race: Diversity Outreach in an Academic Library, 44 J. Acad. Libr. 518, 519 (2018).
15 Brittany Paloma Fiedler, et al., Responding to Hate: How National and Local Incidents Sparked Action at the UNLV University Libraries, 48 Reference Serv. Rev. 63, 78 (2020).
16 Jennifer Wooten & Leah Griffin, Social Justice in the Library is Critical, 82 Pac. Nw. Libr. Ass’n Q. 17, 18 (2018)
17 James K. Elmborg, Libraries as the Spaces Between Us, 50 Reference & User Serv. Ass’n 338, 339 (2011).
18 Fatmawati et al., supra note 18 at 21.
19 Tin Nok Leung et al., User Perceptions, Academic Library Usage and Social Capital: A Correlation Analysis under COVID-19 After Library Renovation, 40 Libr. Hi Tech 304, 305 (2021).
20 Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 21.
21 Asha Davis et al., Exploring Pop-Up Libraries in Practice, 64 Aus. Library J. 94, 94-95(2015).
22 Id. at 101-02.
23 Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 21.
24 Id. at 28.
25 Apps like TikTok are some of the most downloaded in the world. TikTok specifically occupyies the space for second most downloaded app. Juan Carlos Medina Serrano et al., Dancing to the Partisan Beat: A First Analysis of Political Communication on TikTok, 12th ACM Conference on Web Science, July 2020 at 257.
26 Dina Mokgadi Mashiyane, Libraries Breaking Barriers Through TikTok: Enhancing Access and Visibility, 39 Libr. Hi Tech 22, 22 (2022).
27 Sree Sreenivasan, How to Use Social Media in Your Career, NY Times, https://www.nytimes.com/guides/business/social-media-for-career-and-business (last visited Nov. 15, 2022).
28 Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 21.
29 U Buffalo Law Library has posted videos ranging from Wes Anderson–style intros to videos about ping pong. When the goal is building community, what better way than to create videos in a style that students understand while being a little fun, too?
30 Discussing possible reasons why students did not engage socially with each other in library spaces, see Leung et al., supra note 19 at 317.
31 Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 21.
32 Fiedler et al., supra note 15 at 66.
33 Id. at 70.
34 Other methods to consider are public diversity statements, id. at 69, hiring practices, id. at 71, or supporting networks of scholars in the field. Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 28–29.
35 Fiedler et al., supra note 15 at 65.
36 Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 30.
37 Id. at 29.
38 For further looks into what other universities have done to promote diverse perspectives, see Texas A & M: Cushing Memorial Library & Archives exhibit focused on showcasing various identities in the realm if sci-fi fantasy (Jeremy Brett, Diversities of Choice, Choice of Diversities: Practical Aspects of a Diversity-Centered Exhibit, 29 Alexandria 96 (2019)); Race Card Project, where students were encouraged to write their experiences with racism on cards and post to a wall (Everett, supra note 14); and UNLV Special Collections Exhibit on Student Activism and Wikipedia Edit-aTthon (Fiedler et al., supra note 15 at 73).
39 Fiedler et al., supra note 15 at 75.
40 Fiedler et al., supra note 15 at 72.
41 Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 24.
42 Id. at 22-28.
43 Wooten & Griffin, supra note 16 at 2.
44 Rempel & Markland, supra note 1 at 24.
45 Id. at 33.
46 Leung et al., supra note 19 at 316.
47 Fiedler et al., supra note 15 at 75.
48 Id. at 76.