The Interdisciplinary Communities of Practice of the Karst Information Portal
Kaya Van Beynen, E. Spencer Fleury · Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) · 2008
Recognizing the significance of multidisciplinary studies, libraries are responding through the creation of collaborative portals that foster both community and research. The Karst Information Portal, hosted at the University of South Florida Libraries, is one such project. Through this research, the authors actively seek to understand the information values and practices that shape the distinctive practitioners, scientists, and professional community that the KIP serves. As such, the Karst Information Portal fulfills the emerging role of academic libraries to facilitate and support the study, practice, and research of a distinctive knowledge community. While libraries need to respond to the changing needs of their scholarly communities, understanding the broader Community of Practice that they serve is also of critical importance.