Information Science Research Research Articles

Introducing DynaPTI-constructing a dynamic patent technology indicator using text mining and machine learning.

Patent data is an established source of information for both scientific research and corporate intelligence. Yet, most patent-based technology indicators fail to consider firm-level dynamics regarding their technological quality and technological activity. Accordingly, these indicators are unlikely to deliver an unbiased view on the current state of firm-level innovation and are thus incomplete tools for researchers and corporate intelligence practitioners. In this paper, we develop DynaPTI, an indicator that tackles this particular shortcoming of existing patent-based measures. Our proposed framework extends the literature by incorporating a dynamic component and is built upon an index-based comparison of firms. Furthermore, we use machine-learning techniques to enrich our indicator with textual information from patent texts. Together, these features allow our proposed framework to provide precise and up-to-date assessments about firm-level innovation activities. To present an exemplary implementation of the framework, we provide an empirical application to companies from the wind energy sector and compare our results to alternatives. Our corresponding findings suggest that our approach can generate valuable insights that are complementary to existing approaches, particularly regarding the identification of recently emerging, innovation-overperformers in a particular technological field.

Effects of Quantum Mechanical Properties of Complex Systems on Advanced Technological Applications in Japan

Purpose: This study investigates the effects of quantum mechanical properties of complex systems on advanced technological applications in Japan.
 Materials and Methods: The study adopted a desktop methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low-cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Results: The literature review and research findings highlight the significant effects of quantum mechanical properties of complex systems on various technological applications in Japan. The study reveals that quantum entanglement, quantum coherence, and quantum interference can be exploited for quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing, quantum cryptography, quantum metrology, and other advanced technologies. The study also discusses the challenges and limitations of utilizing quantum mechanical properties in technological applications, such as decoherence, environmental interactions, and technical feasibility.
 Recommendations: This study offers a unique contribution to understanding the effects of quantum mechanical properties of complex systems on advanced technological applications in Japan. The research advances the knowledge in the field of quantum information science, quantum technology, and interdisciplinary research between quantum mechanics and technology. The findings provide insights into the potential applications of quantum mechanical properties in various technological fields, and their implications for theory, practice, and policy. The study has practical implications for researchers, engineers, policymakers, and industries involved in quantum technology research and development in Japan and beyond, guiding the future direction of quantum technology innovation and policy formulation

Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Initiation Initiative (NSF)

Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Initiation Initiative (NSF)

An Investigation of Open Access Availability of Library and Information Science Research


 The study aims to investigate the Open Access (OA) availability of Library and Information Science (LIS) research and determine the extent to which research published in high-impact LIS journals is openly available to researchers via different OA routes. Using Google Scholar Metrics, ten core high-impact LIS journals were selected to collect the required data for the study. Bibliographic and citation details of each article published in these journals during 2016-2020 were extracted by searching the ISSN of each journal in the document search option of the Scopus database. The OA status of each article (Gold, Hybrid Gold, Green, and Bronze) was determined by querying the DOI API using the Simple Query Tool of Unpaywall. The findings show that LIS journals reviewed in this study demand $2500 to $3500 as an Article Processing Charge (APC). Almost all the journals have explicit self-archiving policies and lenient restrictions for making articles OA. However, accepted articles can be made available OA at designated Web locations after an embargo of 12months. The study’s findings indicate that 36.5 % of the total 5029 articles published during 2016-2020 in selected LIS journals were OA. Of the total OA articles, around 29 % were available through the publishers’ Website (Gold or Bronze OA), and 71 % were available through the repositories (Green OA). The average citation rate for OA articles is 13.37, which is higher than that of non-OA articles, showing a clear citation advantage for OA articles over non-OA articles.

Exploring the topic structure and evolutionary trends of health informatics research in library and information science

PurposeThis study aims to reveal the topic structure and evolutionary trends of health informatics research in library and information science.Design/methodology/approachUsing publications in Web of Science core collection, this study combines informetrics and content analysis to reveal the topic structure and evolutionary trends of health informatics research in library and information science. The analyses are conducted by Pajek, VOSviewer and Gephi.FindingsThe health informatics research in library and information science can be divided into five subcommunities: health information needs and seeking behavior, application of bibliometrics in medicine, health information literacy, health information in social media and electronic health records. Research on health information literacy and health information in social media is the core of research. Most topics had a clear and continuous evolutionary venation. In the future, health information literacy and health information in social media will tend to be the mainstream. There is room for systematic development of research on health information needs and seeking behavior.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the topic structure and evolutionary trends of health informatics research based on the perspective of library and information science. This study helps identify the concerns and contributions of library and information science to health informatics research and provides compelling evidence for researchers to understand the current state of research.

Mapping Doctoral Research in Library and Information Science at Panjab University Chandigarh

The paper examines doctoral research in the library & information science discipline at Panjab University, Chandigarh, based on student’s perceptions and expectations by posing several research questions. This study aimed to gain insight into research scholar’s perspectives on earning a Ph.D. Based on primary data from 48 respondents through a structured questionnaire in April 2018, the study tabulated, analysed and interpreted information to draw inferences. As the study is limited to research scholars at the DLIS at Panjab University, the universe of the study is relatively narrow. The study’s findings reveal that most respondents had a personal decision to get admitted to the Ph.D. programme. However, there were cases where better job prospects, promotion in career, some practical problems, and the advice of a friend/senior/teacher motivated them to join doctoral research. The Panjab University was the first and last choice for the majority of respondents for doing a Ph.D. Two-thirds of respondents stated that quality of doctoral research accomplished in the DLIS PU is good and applied, and three-fifthsbelieved that the research quality has improved with time. Only one-fifth of respondentsfound quality of physical Infrastructure for doctoral research work in the Department is of the best quality. Several respondents feel that doctoral research at Panjab University and India, in general, still depends on research models applied in Western countries, especially in the UK and USA. However, a group of respondents believed it is either struggling to have its own identity or is a blend of Western and Oriental modes. Researchers will be encouraged to choose regionally relevant and application-oriented topics.

The association of disciplinary background with the evolution of topics and methods in Library and Information Science research 1995–2015

AbstractThe paper reports a longitudinal analysis of the topical and methodological development of Library and Information Science (LIS). Its focus is on the effects of researchers' disciplines on these developments. The study extends an earlier cross‐sectional study (Vakkari et al., Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2022a, 73, 1706–1722) by a coordinated dataset representing a content analysis of articles published in 31 scholarly LIS journals in 1995, 2005, and 2015. It is novel in its coverage of authors' disciplines, topical and methodological aspects in a coordinated dataset spanning two decades thus allowing trend analysis. The findings include a shrinking trend in the share of LIS from 67 to 36% while Computer Science, and Business and Economics increase their share from 9 and 6% to 21 and 16%, respectively. The earlier cross‐sectional study (Vakkari et al., Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2022a, 73, 1706–1722) for the year 2015 identified three topical clusters of LIS research, focusing on topical subfields, methodologies, and contributing disciplines. Correspondence analysis confirms their existence already in 1995 and traces their development through the decades. The contributing disciplines infuse their concepts, research questions, and approaches to LIS and may also subsume vital parts of LIS in their own structures of knowledge production.

The impact of big data on research methods in information science

Social media platforms, search engine transaction logs, Web portal transaction logs, large text corpora, and other data sources offer users a variety of invaluable data sources. Data generated based on social media platforms and other data sources have become important sources of big data for researchers in information science. Big data provide not only challenges but also opportunities for information science. Emerging big data trends inevitably have an impact on research methods in information science. The authors of this paper discuss the impact of big data on research methods in information science.This paper addresses these challenges and opportunities through the lens of research methods, ranging from data processing, to sampling, to information visualization, to temporal analysis, to sentiment analysis, to correlation, to cause-effect relationship, to data accessibility, to data privacy, and data ethics issues.The discussions on related aspects of research methods provoke a healthy reflection and debate for the information science research community, which can help researchers in the field produce sound research designs for big data-oriented research studies and assist information practitioners in solving problems they face in the big data age.Research methods are fundamental and essential for any research studies. Big data analysis has a natural relationship with research methods. The paper discusses an emerging and important research topic big data from the unique angle of research methods.

Moment magnitudes of two large Turkish earthquakes on February 6, 2023 from long-period coda

Two large earthquakes (an earthquake doublet) occurred in south-central Turkey on February 6, 2023, causing massive damages and casualties. The magnitudes and the relative sizes of the two mainshocks are essential information for scientific research and public awareness. There are obvious discrepancies among the results that have been reported so far, which may be revised and updated later. Here we applied a novel and reliable long-period coda moment magnitude method to the two large earthquakes. The moment magnitudes (with one standard error) are 7.95±0.013 and 7.86±0.012, respectively, which are larger than all the previous reports. The first mainshock, which matches the largest recorded earthquakes in the Turkish history, is slightly larger than the second one by 0.11±0.035 in magnitude or by 0.04 to 0.18 at 95% confidence level.

Library and information science and the positivist paradigm: Some critical reflections

The employment of the positivist paradigm in Library and Information Science (LIS) research is commonplace, by at least those who have cared to declare their research paradigms, especially at masters and doctoral levels of their studies. Inspired by such widespread use of positivism in LIS, this paper interrogates the applicability and appropriateness of this paradigm as a philosophical bearing for LIS researchers. Although the thrust of the paper is to critique the applicability of positivism to LIS research, it is itself not a lampoon on the scientific nature of LIS, neither is it in the interest of the paper to challenge any researchers who have employed positivism in the conduct of their research in the area of LIS. Instead, it is a critical reflection on some of the glaring challenges of employing positivism in LIS research, and warns against falling into the trap of what the author calls “positivist paradigmatic sophistry.” The paper is not prescriptive or conclusive, but opens new opportunities for critically reflecting on the utility of positivism in LIS research, and a more careful use of this paradigm by LIS scholars and researchers. The discussion unfolds by first putting LIS into perspective by way of briefly tracing the development of the sciences through the lens of Comte. It proceeds by way of explaining the nature of LIS in order to put it into perspective and goes on to unpack the concept of a paradigm before zeroing in on positivism as a paradigm of research. The paper finally presents some challenges that are associated with the application of positivism to LIS research. It argues that positivism is largely incompatible with LIS as a social science and concludes by imploring LIS researchers to engage in a deliberative and progressive discourse on whether positivism is appropriate for LIS research.

Data Cultures: a scoping literature review

Introduction. This paper reports the outcomes from a literature review of the concept of data cultures as the first step in extending the body of knowledge relating to information culture in the information science domain and raising awareness of the need for further research. Method. A scoping literature review was conducted of English language peer reviewed publications indexed in SCOPUS as well as specialist information and computer science databases. Results. There is a rich and growing body of research concerned with the concept of data cultures, spread across a wide range of disciplines but without any evidence of a universally adopted shared definition or understanding. Information science expertise does not appear to be widely recognised as providing any essential insight into this problem space. Conclusion. The knowledge and understanding of information cultures gained from information science research does not seem to be being applied to data dominated environments. Expertise relating to information behaviour, digital literacies, information management, digital sustainability and preservation are unique and essential perspectives to understand issues relating to data cultures.

Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Populations Experience Unique Challenges in Health Information Environment Developed for Heteronormative Audience

A Review of: Tenny, C. S., Surkan, K. J., Gerido, L. H., & Betts-Green, D. (2021). A crisis of erasure: Transgender and gender-nonconforming populations navigating breast cancer health information. The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion, 5(4), 132–149. https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v5i4.37406 Objective – To understand the lived experiences of transgender and gender-nonconforming populations in seeking health information about breast cancer. Design – Thematic literature review. Setting – Four English-language databases featuring clinical, patient engagement, and library and information sciences (LIS) research. Subjects – Twenty-one published articles. Methods – The researchers chose three concepts (trans, LGBTQ+, and breast cancer), identified related terms for each, and used these terms to conduct literature searches in four databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Library Literature & Information Science Full Text, and Library, Information, Science & Technology Abstracts. Search results were reviewed for relevance to the research objective. The researchers applied grounded theory to analyze the 21 selected articles through open, axial, and selective (thematic) coding. The qualitative research software NVivo was used to perform thematic analysis of each article, and a shared codebook was developed to ensure saturation of axial themes and consistency of coding amongst researchers. Main Results – Three overarching themes emerged from selective coding that exemplify experiences of transgender and gender-nonconforming persons seeking health information about breast cancer: access, erasure, and quality. Compared to their cisgender peers, these historically marginalized populations and their caregivers experience more difficulty accessing the already limited breast cancer information, healthcare, and support services suited to their needs. In particular, transgender and gender-nonconforming patients are often burdened with choosing between receiving health information and care designed for heteronormative persons and risking self-disclosure and possible discrimination by culturally incompetent health professionals. Conclusion – The researchers noted the alarmingly limited resources available for gender-nonconforming patients seeking information and support for health matters other than mental health or sexually transmitted diseases. The researchers also called for increased efforts by LIS curriculums and professionals to study and understand the needs of transgender and gender-nonconforming patrons, and to improve the quality and quantity of information resources specifically dedicated to these unique populations.

An Online Community of Data Enthusiasts Collaborates to Seek, Share, and Make Sense of Data

A Review of: Stvilia, B., & Gibradze, L. (2022). Seeking and sharing datasets in an online community of data enthusiasts. Library & Information Science Research 44(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2022.101160 Objective – To understand the major activities, tools, sources, and challenges of online communities focused on datasets. Design – Content analysis informed by activity theory. Setting – The r/Datasets subreddit, a web forum for sharing, seeking, and discussing datasets. Subjects – 1232 “hot” or “top” discussion threads (1232 original posts and 6813 responding comments) first posted between 2010 and 2020. Methods – The researchers used Reddit’s API to collect their sample of threads. Using a random subset of the sample, the researchers developed a coding scheme for content analysis, which identified major themes in the data. Through this process, they controlled for quality: each researcher coded half the subset independently, then together evaluated their intercoder reliability and discussed and resolved disagreements. The researchers also employed labelled latent Dirchlet allocation to construct topic models corresponding to the theme’s manual content analysis, which produced profiles of the top 100 terms most likely to appear in that topic. Finally, the researchers extracted URLs from threads in the sample to ascertain types of information and data sources used by the community. Presenting their findings, the researchers discussed notable themes and proposed a metadata model for describing datasets, the Data Q&A metadata (DQAM) model. Main Results – The r/Datasets community engages in three distinct activities: asking and answering questions, disseminating information, and community building. The closely related Q&A and dissemination activities shared themes of obtaining and aggregating data, sensemaking, collaborating and crowdsourcing, and data evaluation. Community members frequently discussed tools, competencies, and sources for data work. Major challenges for members of the community related to the general themes of data quality, accessibility, ethics, and legality. A proposed 16-element metadata schema should meet the needs of data enthusiasts. Conclusion – The content analysis reveals a dedicated community engaged in an array of data-seeking and data-sharing activities. Data producers should be mindful of how their data can be accessed and used outside of their original professional or scholarly contexts.

Models of collaborative information behaviour (CIB): A meta-synthesis

Models of information behaviour are one of the prominent features of Library and Information Science research. The purpose of this study was to synthesise models of collaborative information behaviour (CIB). More specifically, the study compares the complementarity and congruent aspects of the models with regard to conceptual relationships that describe CIB processes and activities. The synthesis also ascertains the contributions of the models in exploring new aspects of information behaviour. Six CIB models were purposively selected and studied. The review includes a meta-ethnographic approach. The approach comprises three stages: reciprocal synthesis, reputational synthesis, and line-of-argument-synthesis. The results suggest that despite being analogous, and complementary, the models are dissimilar and relatively lack analogical conceptualization of some of the concepts. The models have explored new contexts and dimensions of information behaviour that go beyond existing approaches and perspectives within LIS. From the synthesis, the potential for developing a taxonomy of CIB and collaboration is proposed.

“Please. Do. Not. Share. Videos. Share. Cats.”: Counteracting Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content on Twitter during Terrorist Attacks

Obtaining accurate information from social media during a crisis can be difficult, but should all information really be disseminated? Social media platforms actively filter out terrorist and violent extremist content (TVEC), but how are users themselves counteracting its spread? This paper aims to connect the research on media events with studies currently being conducted in information science and digital media research through a case study of tweets during the Vienna terror attack in late 2020. These tweets were manually coded in accordance with Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis. This study shows that during the 2020 Vienna attack, GIFs shared on Twitter served three functions: amplification, personalisation and ethical practice. The paper ends with a discussion on the ways cats may function as a countermeasure against the prevalence of TVEC on social media during terrorist attacks and the implications of such countermeasures.

What are you reading? From core journals to trendy journals in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field

In this study, we present an objective, replicable methodology to identify trendy journals in any consolidated discipline. Trendy journals are those most read by authors who are currently publishing within the scope of the discipline. Trendy journal lists differ from consolidated lists of top core journals; the latter are very stable over time, mainly reflecting reputational factors, whereas the former reveal current influences not yet captured by studies based on bibliometric indicators or expert surveys. We apply our methodology to identify trendy journals among 167 titles indexed in the Web of Science category of the Information Science & Library Science (LIS) research area. Our list of trendy journals represents the most influential journals nowadays in the LIS discipline, challenging to some extent the core LIS journal list and journal category lists ordered by citations (e.g., by the Journal Impact Factor). Our results show that Scientometrics is the journal that bears the most influence on current production when not corrected for journal size and that Quantitative Science Studies—a small, relatively new journal not yet assigned a Journal Impact Factor nor present on any list of core LIS journals—is the journal that has shown the most significant recent influence when controlling for size.

Efficient Trajectory Clustering with Road Network Constraints Based on Spatiotemporal Buffering

The analysis of individuals’ movement behaviors is an important area of research in geographic information sciences, with broad applications in smart mobility and transportation systems. Recent advances in information and communication technologies have enabled the collection of vast amounts of mobility data for investigating movement behaviors using trajectory data mining techniques. Trajectory clustering is one commonly used method, but most existing methods require a complete similarity matrix to quantify the similarities among users’ trajectories in the dataset. This creates a significant computational overhead for large datasets with many user trajectories. To address this complexity, an efficient clustering-based method for network constraint trajectories is proposed, which can help with transportation planning and reduce traffic congestion on roads. The proposed algorithm is based on spatiotemporal buffering and overlapping operations and involves the following steps: (i) Trajectory preprocessing, which uses an efficient map-matching algorithm to match trajectory points to the road network. (ii) Trajectory segmentation, where a Compressed Linear Reference (CLR) technique is used to convert the discrete 3D trajectories to 2D CLR space. (iii) Spatiotemporal proximity analysis, which calculates a partial similarity matrix using the Longest Common Subsequence similarity indicator in CLR space. (iv) Trajectory clustering, which uses density-based and hierarchical clustering approaches to cluster the trajectories. To verify the proposed clustering-based method, a case study is carried out using real trajectories from the GeoLife project of Microsoft Research Asia. The case study results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method compared with other state-of-the-art clustering-based methods.

Analysing the relationship between altmetric attention score (AAS) and citation: a correlational study

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assess the value of altmetrics or other indicators, showcasing the impact of academic output, which is seen too often correlated with the citation count.Design/methodology/approachThis study considered three reputed journals of Library and Information Science (LIS) published by Elsevier. A total of 1,164 articles were found in these journals from 2016 to 2020 and the relationships between altmetric attention scores (AAS) and citations were examined. The analysis was extended to compare the grouped data set based on percentile ranks of AAS like top 50%, top 25%, top 10% and top 1%.FindingsUsing Spearman correlation analysis, the findings reveal a positive correlation between AAS and citations with different significant levels for all articles, and articles with AAS, as well as for normalized AAS in the top 50%, top 25%, top 10% and top 1% data set. For the three journals International Journal of Information Management (IJIM), Journal of Informetrics (JIF) and Library and Information Science Research (LISR), a significant positive correlation is observed across all data sets. But an unexpected result was observed: in the case of the top 50% of articles for the IJIM and JIF showed no significant correlation but the LISR journal showed a positive correlation for the whole data set. This journal though has fewer articles in comparison to the other two.Research limitations/implicationsA source item that is highly cited may not be having high social media attention as reflected in the findings. This demarcates AAS with citations implying various factors on which these measurements are dependent. The study distinguishes these metrics lucidly. There is not a single guideline or uniformity in assessing the correlation found. But the problem is that the interpretation of the correlation strength affects the conclusion of the study. Moreover, this study will be a role model as a draft for librarians to select relevant journals for their libraries and will facilitate authors in the choice of the publication outlets for their papers, particularly concerning the journals that have both visibility and research impact.Originality/valueThe study reported devising a comprehensive tool to validate AAS as a measure of scholarly impact to include appropriate social media sources and verify its relationship with other metrics. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to discover the correlation between AAS and citations for the highly impactful LIS journal published by Elsevier. The empirical evidence lies in the citation and altmetric data extracted from the dimension database.

Predatory Publishing in Indian LIS Research: A Case Study

The study examines the possible predatory journals in Library and Information Science research in India, including the affiliation status of the authors publishing in those predatory journals, frequency of returning authors, and country-wise distribution of authors. The paper used Beall’s list to find out the predatory journals in LIS published from India. Publication trends, affiliations of authors, and the status of the 22 LIS journals under the study were critically analyzed. The result shows that the predatory journals were diminishing slowly; in 2016, there were eight active journals, while in 2021, it was reduced to four journals. Similarly, the publication trends show that the highest number of articles (398) was published in the year 2015, and it was only 66 articles in 2020. It is revealed that academics hailing from state universities (42.88%) are the highest contributors to the predatory journals, followed by professionals from government colleges (16.76%). The results indicate that predatory publishing was rampant in the early years but declined gradually. Researchers from India have published the most articles, totaling 1760 (93%), followed by those from Nigeria (64, 3.3%), Bangladesh (10), and Saudi Arabia (eight articles). It is also revealed that 21.66% (n = 438) are returning authors who have published more than one article in the sample journals. The paper discusses the role of the government and especially the University Grants Commission (UGC) in curbing the menace of predatory publishing. The authors also discuss the possible role of library professionals in stopping the plague of predatory publishing.

Study on the storage, processing and preparation of lunar samples returned by the Chang’E-5 mission

<p indent="0mm">The Chang’E-5 mission realized China’s first automatic lunar surface sampling return. The Ground Research and Application System is responsible for storing, preparing, and processing the returned lunar samples. The constructed Lunar Sample Laboratory has storage, processing, and preparation functions for the original lunar samples and is capable of long-term sample storage and processing in an environment of high-purity nitrogen on Earth. The Chang’E-5 mission returned two types of samples: scooped and drilled samples. This study developed detailed storage, preparation, and processing protocols for different types of samples. Three working stages will be carried out after the sample is returned to the Lunar Sample Laboratory, including sample processing, storage, and preparation. The detailed procedure involves unsealing the sealed packaging device, separating the scooped and drilled samples, storing the drilled and scooped samples, and preparing the samples. The primary sealed containers for scooped and drilled samples were successfully extracted via a designed unsealing process. Samples for permanent storage, backup storage, engineering display, and scientific research were obtained using the division method for scooped and drilled samples. The samples are stored in different equipments at different locations according to the designed storage method in this study. Scientific samples and some display samples were polished into sections according to the designed preparation method to ensure that the basic sample information can be obtained without destroying the original characteristics of the samples. The prepared samples will be used to analyze their physical and chemical properties and describe their basic characteristics, which can provide important information and technical support for subsequent scientific research.