Research status and characteristics of library and information science in Taiwan: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

This study determines how library and information science (LIS) research in Taiwan has changed between 2001 and 2010. The major research questions address the research status of LIS in Taiwan, how the Taiwanese government supports the field, and the collaborative authorship of LIS journal articles in Taiwan. Bibliometric and content analysis methods were conducted to analyze 2,494 journal articles, 983 theses, and 191 research projects between 2001 and 2010. The results show LIS and Technology to be the most popular topics in journal articles. The most well-received thesis topics are LIS and Technology and User Services, accounting for more than 50 % of graduate theses. The same is true for research projects, with the subjects of LIS and Technology, LIS Theory and Foundation, and User Services having a ratio of more than 70 %. In government-sponsored research projects, the average amount of funding obtained had no significant differences or tendencies for various subjects over time. In authorship of journal articles, individual researchers conducted 66.11 % of articles in key LIS scholarly journals in Taiwan between 2001 and 2010.