Citation Analysis of Masters' Theses and Doctoral Dissertations: Balancing Library Collections With Students' Research Information Needs

Abstract

This study analyses the citation patterns of masters' theses and doctoral dissertations between 2005 and 2014 in the Faculty of Engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). The analysis included establishing the types of materials, differences between resources used across the departments within the faculty, the journals referenced most frequently and the holdings of such titles by the library and lastly the age, language and country of publication of journal articles referenced. The study used a bibliometric approach using various indicators to analyze the citation patterns. The conclusion of the study shows that both masters' and doctoral students are utilizing resources provided by the library and that the most used resources were journals, followed by books. The study is unique in that it provides a pattern of how both masters' and doctoral students cite resources in their studies. It is also important in that it provides CPUT Libraries with information on how well utilized its resources are as well as pointing to possible areas of strengthening the holdings. The study concludes that together with other approaches, citation analysis still remains one of the most important tools to assess the usefulness of library holdings for postgraduate students' research activities.