Abstract
ObjectiveThe primary objective of this study was to explore different dimensions of Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) authorship from 2006–2017. Dimensions that were evaluated using coauthorship networks and affiliation data included collaboration, geographical reach, and relationship between Medical Library Association (MLA) member and nonmember authors. A secondary objective was to analyze the practice and practical application of data science skills.MethodsA team of librarians who attended the 2017 Data Science and Visualization Institute used JMLA bibliographic metadata extracted from Scopus, together with select MLA membership data from 2006–2017. Data cleaning, anonymization, analysis, and visualization were done collaboratively by the team members to meet their learning objectives and to produce insights about the nature of collaborative authorship at JMLA.ResultsSixty-nine percent of the 1,351 JMLA authors from 2006–2017 were not MLA members. MLA members were more productive and collaborative, and tended to author articles together. The majority of the authoring institutions in JMLA are based in the United States. Global reach outside of the United States and Canada shows higher authorship in English-speaking countries (e.g., Australia, United Kingdom), as well as in Western Europe and Japan.ConclusionsMLA support of JMLA may benefit a wider network of health information specialists and medical professionals than is reflected in MLA membership. Conducting coauthorship network analyses can create opportunities for health sciences librarians to practice applying emerging data science and data visualization skills.
Highlights
In response to academic and research libraries developing new data-intensive services to support twenty-first century research methods [1, 2], formal continuing education and training opportunities for librarians in data science and data visualization have proliferated [3,4,5,6]. These courses offer broad introductions to a number of topics related to data science and data visualization; to utilize the skills gained and retain the knowledge learned, librarians must gain experience applying these skills in real-world contexts at their local institutions [7]
Research administrators, and individual faculty with quantitative assessments of research impact has emerged as a growing area of need at many Journal of the Medical Library Association
The only members who were not included in the data set from Medical Library Association (MLA) were those from European Union countries due to changing privacy requirements that went into effect in May 2018
Summary
In response to academic and research libraries developing new data-intensive services to support twenty-first century research methods [1, 2], formal continuing education and training opportunities for librarians in data science and data visualization have proliferated [3,4,5,6]. These courses offer broad introductions to a number of topics related to data science and data visualization; to utilize the skills gained and retain the knowledge learned, librarians must gain experience applying these skills in real-world contexts at their local institutions [7]. Others have suggested a number of different approaches for creating these opportunities, from designing enterprise-level services to creating workshop series that offer data science training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students [11,12,13].
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