SUGGESTING BOOK-BASED INDIGENOUS SOCIAL NETWORK COMPONENTS USING THE STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL BASED ON THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL NETWORKS

Social networks are being considered and used in all societies. Book-based social networks have also been featured as one of these kinds of networks. Therefore, with the growth and expansion of various technologies in libraries, in addition to traditional services, these innovations should be synchronized and applied. The present study addresses the components of these types of networks in an indigenous level.

This research is a mixed type and has used quantitative and qualitative methods. First, top-ranked social cataloging sites on Alexa's site were identified, including the Goodreads, Librarything and Anobii, and then, in order to provide a checklist about the components of book-based social cataloging sites, these sites and their constituent elements were studied. Library studies were used to provide an evaluation checklist on the criteria and components of book-based social network sites evaluators. Then, the components presented in various texts and sources were extracted and classified according to the proposed criteria. The data gathering tool was a checklist consisting of 14 criteria and 73 components, finalized by using the Delphi method. Finally, using structural equations, the proposed components were investigated for use in the indigenous pattern.

The results of this study showed that all of the components studied in this research are important and all of the criteria can be used in the proposed model and have the appropriate amount and all of the factors are of an appropriate size and credibility. Also, in the bookbased social sites, the Librarything ranked first and Goodreads ranked second and Anobii ranked third in terms of compliance with the components. Also, the indicators showed that the proposed model has suitable goodness of fit.

The results of this study showed that all the identified components of this type of network are necessary for design, and if these networks are designed based on the criteria, they will be effective. It is suggested that a similar research be done for other social cataloging sites and their elements be examined in an indigenous level.