Abstract
Besides communicating and sharing information, people on the virtual communities share knowledge as well. However, comparing with the communities in a real world, the motive, structure and level of sharing knowledge are different. From the standpoints of personal motivations, social capital, and organizational rewards, this study examines the factors affecting knowledge-sharing among members in the 3C & computer-related virtual communities. From the factor analysis and multiple regression analysis of 519 questionnaires collected by online survey system, 8 factors are found to be crucial. The ."helping others for a long term.", ."cohesion of inter-personal relationship.", ."commitment to the community.", and ."organizational rewards." factors have positive impacts on knowledge-sharing; while ."reputation." factor has negative impact; though ."professional capability.", ."intensity of interaction.", and ."equivalence." factors are relevant, they are not statistically significant. From the T test and one-way ANOVA analysis, the results show that demographic attributes and participation experience have impacts on the above factors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 377-401 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Journal | Journal of Educational Media and Library Science |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- Knowledge sharing
- Organizational rewards
- Personal motivations
- Social capital
- Virtual community
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Conservation
- Information Systems
- Archaeology
- Library and Information Sciences