Library and Information Science Research in China—A Survey Based Analysis of 10 LIS Educational Institutes

Abstract

This paper aims to conduct a quantitative evaluation on the achievement, research productivity, and research hotspots of “Library, Information and Archives management” Science schools or departments in China. In this paper, the “LIS” in China is firstly defined. Before evaluation, data are collected from CSSCI (Chinese Social Science Citation Index)-indexed papers and SSCI (Social Science Citation Index)-indexed papers, as well as projects granted by the two authoritative national foundations in China, SSFC (National Social Science Foundation of China) and NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China). Then, a bibliometric-based method and a keyword-based method are employed to analyze the collected data from different perspectives, including annual distribution, author productivity, institute productivity and influence. Through the analysis, several conclusions are made: a) collaborative groups exist, though no particular collaboration preference is exhibited. b) Interdisciplinary research promotes the emergence of new disciplines. c) There are four top institutes with outstanding productivity and six hot research topics in the “LIS” study in China. Also, in a five-year period, “LIS” scholars have paid much attention on network technology and its application in this field. Research addressing the view of “information” is much more popular than the ubiquitous conception of “library”. d) There still exist some issues in China's LIS research, for example, the unbalanced development of educational institutes, the excessive preference of theoretical research over technical research, etc.