Faizhal began exploring various methods of textual analysis and quickly recognized a common challenge faced by researchers in his field, a lack of programming skills and limited access to computational resources. While the interest in leveraging text analysis tools was growing, the barrier to entry remained high for many, especially those from non-technical backgrounds. To address this gap, a pilot project was launched in the first quarter of 2023, which later evolved into what is now known as Coconut Libtool. In the early stages, Crissandra and Manika came on board, collaborating to build a user-friendly application designed to be an accessible tool for researchers with varying levels of technical expertise.

By the last quarter of 2023, the application had matured enough to be showcased beyond the initial development team. Manika presented Coconut Libtool at the Research Showcase hosted by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where it received encouraging feedback and sparked interest among scholars. Building on this momentum, the tool was introduced to a broader professional audience in 2024, with a short paper delivered at the 87th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T). This milestone marked important steps in establishing the relevance and potential impact of Coconut Libtool within the academic and library science communities.

Beyond its core team, Coconut Libtool has become a space for learning and collaboration. We’ve opened opportunities for students to get involved, contribute, and grow alongside the project. Notably, students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, such as Henry and Olivia, contributed to the development of features like burst detection and the Scattertext visualization. Later, another contributor, Tam from the University of Oklahoma, joined the initiative and continues to play an active role in improving the tool. We firmly believe in the potential of students and early-career researchers, and we are committed to fostering a supportive environment where learning and contribution go hand in hand.