A Bibliometric Analysis of the Theses and Dissertations on Information Literacy Published in the United States and Taiwan

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics of the theses and dissertations on information literacy from 1988 to 2010 in the United States and Taiwan, such as publishing universities, paper growth, author/ advisor productivity, type of literacy, and research methods. The comparison of theses and dissertations on information literary research is made between those completed in the United States and Taiwan. This study investigates and maps the trends in information literacy research by applying bibliometric analysis to the 767 theses and dissertations in the field of information literacy in the United States and Taiwan. The study reveals that theses and dissertations on information literacy in Taiwan grew rapidly (502, 65.45%) and more were published than in the United States (265, 34.55%), although the first doctoral dissertation published in the United States was in 1988 while the first master thesis published in Taiwan was in 1996.The rates at which they dealt with information literacy, media literacy, and digital literacy were respectively 54.57%, 30.59%, and 14.84%, there are significant differences between the United States and Taiwan in the three types of literacy research. Furthermore, the type of methodology implemented in theses and dissertations in the United States is different from that used in Taiwan.