Library And Information Science Research Research Articles

Does education in library and information studies in the United Kingdom have a future?

The last decade has seen a decline in the fortunes of the Library and Information Science (LIS) sector in the UK, both in professional practice and in higher education. This paper sets out to assess the health and wellbeing of LIS teaching and research, and to identify key strategies for its future survival. Over the past decade, many schools of LIS have ceased to exist, for example in the University of Central England, Brighton University and Loughborough. Many have become subdivisions of other schools, as in Northumbria University, Strathclyde and the Robert Gordon University, spread indiscriminately around a variety of disciplines like business management, computing and communications. Arguably, there remains only one autonomous school and two autonomous departments of LIS in the UK today, in Sheffield University, and UCL and City University - a very significant decline from fifteen examples in the 1980s (Elkin and Wilson, 1997). From 2018 to 2019, we undertook a series of interviews with colleagues in information and library science education across the UK, both current academics with responsibility for the subject, and also retired heads of school, department or subject. The aim of the interviews was to gather the views of these experienced and knowledgeable individuals about how the discipline has fared in the last thiry years, its current status and where it might go in the future. What emerged from these interviews was a sense of isolation, threat and uncertainty amongst participants about their future and that of the discipline. The authors were of the view that we are currently at something of a crossroads for the subject, as taught in universities in the UK, and that a study such as the present one would help to focus minds on the areas where most impact might be made in creating a legacy for the subject into the future.

Managing the “backend” of LIS research projects: A project management perspective

There is very little guidance in library and information science (LIS) literature about how researchers should manage the scope, time, costs, quality, human resources, communications, and risks associated with LIS research projects. To fill this gap, researchers tested the utility of project management principles (PMP) for planning and managing a project designed to enhance the information, digital, and financial literacy of the people earning less than $2 per day in India. The customization of PMP through 29 mechanisms and 60 action items was used to conduct focus groups and in-person surveys with over 150 participants, in their native language, at 10 public libraries. PMP were most helpful for managing risks (13 solutions), communications (11 solutions), and human resources (10 solutions) of the project and treating participants ethically. PMP developed in the West were helpful before, during, and after data collection in the LIS research project in a developing country.

Authorship trend and content analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the classic characteristics of highly cited articles (HCAs) of top-ranked library and information science (LIS) journals and get acquainted with the high-quality works in specific areas of LIS for distinguishing what gets cited and who the prolific authors are.Design/methodology/approachThe HCAs published across the top four LIS journals were downloaded, coded and a database was developed with basic metadata elements for analysis using bibliometric indicators. Lotka’s Inverse Square Law of Scientific Productivity was applied to assess the author’s productivity of HCA. The content analysis method was also used to find out the emerging areas of research that have sought high citations.FindingsInferences were drawn for the proposed five number of research questions pertaining to individual productivity, collaboration patterns country and institutional productivity, impactful areas of research. The Netherland found to be the potential player among all the affiliating countries of authors and Loet Leydesdorff tops the list among the prolific authors. It is observed that Lotka’s Classical Law also fits the HCA data set in LIS. “Research impact measurement and research collaboration,” “Social networking” and “Research metrics and citation-based studies” are found to be the emerging areas of LIS research.Practical implicationsResearchers may find a way what gets cited in specific areas of LIS literature and why along with who are the prolific authors.Originality/valueThis study is important from the perspective of the growing research field of the LIS discipline to identify the papers that have influenced others papers as per citation count, spot the active and more impactful topics in LIS research.

Scholarly research in Library and Information Science: an analysis based on ISI Web of Science

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a quantitative analysis of the Library and Information Science (LIS) scholarly literature published worldwide. Design/methodology/approach The ISI Web of Science database was used as a source for extracting the data of published documents during the period 2003–2017. The analysis of the published literature was based on the following indicators: research productivity of each county, annual publications, annual citations, highly cited articles, highly cited LIS journals, most productive institutions in the field of LIS and most prolific authors. The types of documents included in this study were research articles, conference proceeding papers, book reviews and editorials. Findings The findings revealed that the USA had the highest overall output of LIS scholarly publications. The year 2016 was identified as the most productive year for the number of publications, whereas 2017 was identified as the most productive year for the number of citations. “Impact of data sources on citation counts and rankings of LIS faculty: Web of Science versus Scopus and Google Scholar” was the most highly cited article. The Journal of Medical Library Association was the most highly cited journal in LIS. Indiana University from the USA was the most productive LIS research institution. Mike Thelwall, from the UK, is identified as the most prolific author in LIS. Originality/value The study will be of interest for those researchers, who intend to conduct bibliometric research studies in LIS.

Conceptualizing information work for health contexts in Library and Information Science

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to suggest that a closer consideration of the notion of work and, more specifically, information work as a sensitizing concept in Library and Information Science (LIS) can offer a helpful way to differently consider how people interact and engage with information and can complement a parallel focus on practices, behaviours and activities.Design/methodology/approachStarting with the advent of the concept of information work in Corbin and Strauss’ work, the paper then summarizes how information work has evolved and taken shape in LIS research and discourse, both within and outside of health-related information contexts.FindingsThe paper argues that information work affords a lens that can acknowledge the multiple levels of effort and multiple processes (cognitive, physical or social-behavioural) related to information activities. This paper outlines six affordances that the use of information work within LIS scholarship imparts: acknowledges the conceptual, mental and affective; brings attention to the invisibility of particular information activities and their constituents; opens up and distinguishes the many different lines of work; destabilizes hierarchies between professionals and non-professionals; emphasizes goals relating to information activities and their underlying pursuits; and questions work/non-work dichotomies established in existing LIS models.Originality/valueThis paper is a first in bringing together the many iterations of information work research in LIS. In doing so, this paper serves as a prompt for other LIS scholars to take up, challenge the existing borders of, and thus advance the concept of information work.

Visual topical analysis of library and information science

Using research papers of WoS database as the data source, the present paper adopts the method of Documents Co-citation Analysis, and employs the tool of CiteSpace to analyze the theme, evolution and research trend of Library and Information Science (LIS) research in the recent 30 years from 1989 to 2018. The findings demonstrate that (1) research on LIS develops along the path from the ordering of information to the digging and application of information value. And in this process, the factor of “people” and the network information resources have been receiving more and more attentions; (2) over the past 30 years, research on LIS has mainly focused on areas such as information retrieval, social media, information system, information behavior, bibliometrics and webometrics, scientific evaluation and knowledge management; and (3) in the future, LIS research will mainly focus on six theme areas: metrology research, open government, scientific evaluation, big data, social media and information system. These six areas are all significantly affected by social media.

Visibility and growth of LIS research publications: a Scopus based analysis of select open access journals during 2001 to 2015

PurposeThis study aims to establish an idea on visibility and growth of research publications of select Library and Information Science (LIS) open access journals indexed in Scopus database during the period 2001-2015.Design/methodology/approachThe study covers its scope to the research publications published during the period 2001-2015. All retrieved data were analyzed using bibliometric methods. The data of the select journals were searched in Scopus database using the name of the journal as search term in source of the database.FindingsThe results of the study reveal that visibility of LIS research articles in country based, university/ institution based, types of document based, authors based and citation based is significant. Authors from 83 countries and 990 universities/ institutions across the world have published their research in such LIS open access journals. The American and European countries are the leaders among all contributing countries and “Article” is the most popular types of documents with 61.37 per cent publications. The citation impact of publications shows an average 8.08 citations per publication.Originality/valueThe study raises concern on the global visibility of LIS research publications. Authors from underdeveloped countries do not prefer to publish their publications in open channel. Also government and other research bodies of these countries do not give proper weightage to the publications in open access journals. So, the study intends to assess the visibility of LIS research publications and their growth pattern.

Are articles in library and information science (LIS) journals primarily contributed to by LIS authors?

This study measured the proportion of articles by authors affiliated with library and information science (LIS)-related institutions and proportion of LIS authors in each journal using 3224 articles published in 75 journals in 2015 in the category of information science and library science as assigned by journal citation reports (JCR). Only 33.3% of journals published over half of their articles by LIS authors. Over half of authors affiliated with LIS institutions were identified in only 30.7% of journals. Library science-oriented journals had higher percentages of LIS authors and articles by LIS authors, followed by information science-oriented journals. Not all typical LIS journals were primarily contributed to by LIS authors. Additionally, 30 journals with a weak association to LIS research substantially explained the findings and tended to have higher impact factors. Lower ranks of typical LIS journals affect research rewards for LIS researchers when JCR impact factors are emphasized.

How collaboration type, publication place, funding and author’s role affect citations received by publications from Africa: A bibliometric study of LIS research from 1996 to 2015

This study investigated if collaboration type, publication place, funding and author’s role affect citations received by publications from Africa. Library and Information Science (LIS) publication record of the 54 African countries was collected from the Web of Science. Five types of collaborations were analyzed; no, institutional, national, African and international collaborations. The result shows that only 4.43% of the research by LIS authors from Africa were funded while only 8.16% were published in Africa. The study further shows that the visibility of the articles was low as they attracted 0.67 citation per year. Single author papers declined by the year, while collaboration increased. Institutional collaboration was the most popular while intra-Africa collaboration was the least popular. Furthermore, articles that were funded, published outside Africa, and from intra-African and international collaborations were more cited. International collaborations where LIS authors from Africa were lead authors attracted less citations. The observable differences in citations received by different funding status, collaboration types, publication place and authors’ role were statistically significant. Though higher visibility and funding through international collaboration as revealed in this study is a positive incentive for authors from Africa to participate in international collaboration, it is important to also improve intra-African collaboration. Through strong intra-African collaboration networks, innovative research could be driven to solve some of the problems facing Africa. It was also recommended that structures that will promote intra-African and international collaboration should be provided with funding opportunities.

Examination of correlates of H-index as a measure of research productivity for library and information science faculty in the United States and Canada

This research analyzes research productivity among Library and Information Science (LIS) faculty based on number of publications and citations throughout the careers of tenure-track and tenured professors in LIS schools with an American Library Association-accredited Master of LIS program. The h-index is examined as a representative measure of LIS faculty output using a regression analysis. Based on observed variance in h-index and other research productivity measures across LIS schools, a regression is conducted based on several variables that distinguish these schools: Research 1 status, proportion of faculty who are full professors, where the university is located, whether the LIS school has a Ph.D. program, and whether the school is a member of the iSchool consortium. Findings indicate that h-index effectively represents the relative number of publications and citations a professor has while mitigating the impact of a few highly-cited publications that are not representative of an entire body of work. In addition to Research 1 status and proportion of full professors, iSchool membership is identified as a factor that influences a LIS school’s h-index vale. These findings have relevance to LIS readers interested in analyzing productivity of individual researchers and schools, researchers interested in the measurement of the effect of the h-index value on evaluating research productivity, and readers interested in the impact of the iSchool movement on research in LIS.

Towards structure–agency integrative theories for information access disparity

PurposeBased on the assumption that information access disparity is a highly complex phenomenon demanding integrative explications that heed both structure and agency, the purpose of this paper is to outline the theoretical background against which endeavours to develop such explanations can be planned.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a close reading of: existing explanations of information access disparity; research of other library and information science (LIS) issues that have demonstrated conscious attempts to bridge structure and agency; and cross-disciplinary integrative theories that have served as foundations for LIS research. Explanatory power of the first and applicability of the latter two are critically assessed; lessons for future research are drawn.FindingsThe examination shows that efforts to develop integrative theories for information access disparity are emerging but remain indistinct; integrative frameworks for other LIS phenomena exist but are developed primarily by adopting concepts from cross-disciplinary theories and are, therefore, both enabled and constrained by them. It also shows that cross-disciplinary integrative theories contribute to LIS by exporting the general integrative theorising approach and a range of specific concepts but, owing to their limitations in dealing with information-specific issues, their adequacy for explaining information access disparity cannot be assumed.Originality/valueThe study demonstrates that a promising way forward for developing integrative theories of information access disparity is to follow the general integrative approach, but to ground related concepts and propositions in empirical data alone, i.e., to begin the journey of integrative theorising theory-free.

Information as a construction

The purpose of this review paper is to outline the constructivist approach to the notion of information from two perspectives. The first perspective explores the role of ‘constructed’ information in the ‘constructivist niche’ – a common name for the appropriate viewpoints in different science fields, such as cognitive and neuroscience, psychology, cybernetics and biology of cognition. The second perspective considers library and information science (LIS) papers in which information is treated as a constructed entity. This paper assumed the origin of the notion of information to be a construction as defined in the ‘constructivist niche’ that is based upon communication theory and cybernetics. Conversely, the origin of the notion of information as a construction as per LIS can be found in Bateson’s definition of information as a ‘difference which makes the difference,‘ as well as in the 1970s LIS definition wherein information is associated with the direction of a cognitive viewpoint, as in a ‘cognitive turn’. The study showed that ‘information as a construction‘, except in a few cases, did not play a significant role in the constructivist theories nor in LIS. LIS researchers reduce the concept of information to a subjective, socially-constructed entity which inherently results in different interpretations.

Much Library and Information Science Research on Open Access is Available in Open Access, But There Is Still Room to Grow

A Review of:
 Chilimo, W. L., & Onyancha, O. B. (2018). How open is open access research in library and information science? South African Journal of Libraries & Information Science, 84(1), 11-19. https://doi.org/10.7553/84-1-1710
 Abstract 
 Objective – To investigate the open access (OA) availability of Library and Information Science (LIS) research on the topic of OA, the relative openness of the journals in which this research is published, and the degree to which the OA policies of LIS journals facilitate free access.
 Design – Bibliometric, quantitative dataset analysis.
 Setting – African academic library and information science department.
 Subjects – 1,185 English-language, peer-reviewed articles published between 2003 and 2013 on OA and published in journals indexed by three major LIS databases, of which 909 articles in the top 56 journals received further analysis.
 Methods – Authors first searched LIS indexes to compile a dataset of published articles focusing on OA. They then manually identified and evaluated the OA policies of the top 56 journals in which these articles were found. The openness of these journals was scored according to a rubric modified from the Scholarly Publishing and Academic resources Coalition’s (SPARC’s) 2013 OA spectrum. Finally, authors manually searched Google Scholar to determine the OA availability of the articles from the dataset.
 Main Results – Of the 909 articles published in the top 56 journals, 602 were available in some form of OA. Of these, 431 were available as gold copies and 171 were available as green copies. Of the 56 journals evaluated for openness, 13 were considered OA, 3 delayed OA, 27 hybrid/unconditional post-print, 2 hybrid/conditional post-print, and 11 had unrecognized OA policies.
 Conclusion – The increasing amount and significance of LIS research on OA has not directly translated to the comprehensive adoption of OA publishing. Although a majority of the articles in the dataset were available in OA, the authors indicate that some measures of OA adoption and growth assessed in this study are only somewhat higher than in other disciplines. The authors call upon LIS professionals to become more conversant with journals’ OA policies. An acknowledgement that not all LIS scholars researching OA are necessarily advocates thereof led the authors of this study to recommend further investigation of OA research not available in OA to shed light on those scholars’ perceptions and preferences.

Usage, captures, mentions, social media and citations of LIS highly cited papers: an altmetrics study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the usage, captures, mentions, social media and citations of highly cited papers of Library and information science (LIS).Design/methodology/approachThis study is quantitative research that was conducted using scientometrics and altmetrics indicators. The research sample consists of LIS classic papers. The papers contain highly cited papers of LIS that are introduced by Google Scholar. The research data have been gathered from Google Scholar, Scopus and Plum Analytics Categories. The data analysis has been done by Excel and SPSS applications.FindingsThe data indicate that among the highly cited articles of LIS, the highest score regarding the usage, captures, mentions and social media and the most abundance of citations belong to “Citation advantage of open access articles” and “Usage patterns of collaborative tagging systems.” Based on the results of Spearman statistical tests, there is a positive significant correlation between Google Scholar Citations and all studied indicators. However, only the correlation between Google Scholar Citations with capture metrics (p-value = 0.047) and citation metrics (p-value = 0.0001) was statistically significant.Originality/valueAltmetrics indicators can be used as complement traditional indicators of Scientometrics to study the impact of papers. Therefore, the Altmetrics knowledge of LIS researchers and experts and practicing new studies in this field will be very important.

Information Transfer in Articles About Libraries and Student Success

Connecting academic libraries to the higher education environment is crucial for demonstrating the impact of libraries on student success. The purpose of this study is to examine the information transfer between the disciplines of library and information science (LIS) and higher education in order to evaluate the influence of ideas between the two disciplines. Information transfer was analyzed in 39 articles focused on the library's contributions to student success by examining the cited references, the author and collaborator affiliations, and the forward citations. The findings from the cited reference analysis suggest that LIS is borrowing concepts and methods through citations from the discipline of education. Authorship affiliations showed that some non-LIS authors are publishing in the field of LIS and that LIS authors are collaborating with non-LIS authors. Finally, based on the forward citations, other disciplines are rarely citing LIS research about student success. This article's findings highlight the need to consider research and collaborators outside of the LIS field when researching the library's contribution to student success.

First-generation students’ information literacy in everyday contexts

Historically, much of the Library and Information Science (LIS) literature on first-generation students (FGS) framed them using deficit thinking, emphasising what they lacked to be successful in higher education. In contrast, recent scholarship has turned to asset-based pedagogies, shifting the focus onto the strengths that FGS bring to college. Further, LIS research on FGS has examined how students engage with information solely in academic contexts, such as completing research papers or navigating higher education procedures. The current study contributes to the discussion of asset-based pedagogies by using a funds of knowledge approach to explore the ways in which FGS at a mid-sized university in the US engage with information, and it expands the scope of inquiry to several everyday contexts, including students’ households, workplaces, and communities. The findings reveal a variety of funds of knowledge concerning participants’ information literacy (IL) and lay the foundation for IL instruction that meets FGS where they are, thus serving them more equitably.

How important is software to library and information science research? A content analysis of full-text publications

Abstract We investigate the contributions of scientific software to library and information science (LIS) research using a sample of 572 English language articles published in 13 journals in 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017. In particular, we examine the use and citation of software freely available for academic use in the LIS literature; we also explore the extent to which researchers follow software citation instructions provided by software developers. Twenty-seven percent of the LIS journal articles in our sample explicitly mention and use software. Yet although LIS researchers are becoming increasingly reliant on software that is freely available for academic use, many still fail to include formal citations of such software in their publications. We also find that a substantial proportion of researchers, when documenting software use, do not cite the software in the manner recommended by its developers.

Evaluation of LIS Research Performance of USA: A Bibliometric Study

The study will review and analyse the profile of the PhD awarded degree holders in the discipline of Library and Information Science (LIS) PhD in USA (United State of America) during the timeline of 2001 to 2010. The study will help in understanding their contribution of their research production which are based on their PhD thesis. It will also assess the research scenario of LIS research in the USA. Finally, it will evaluate the key aspects such as research productivity, key areas of research, their scholarly publication pattern, authors’ collaboration, and discover the key sources of publications with the help in preparation of bibliometric parameters. The discussions and observations in the present study will be placed on record for the further improvement of research, which may represent a guiding tool for researchers and institutions to explore innovation in the area of LIS research.

Genealogia acadêmica dos pesquisadores da área de Ciência da Informação: um estudo sobre os bolsistas de produtividade em pesquisa (PQ-CNPq)

O artigo tem como objetivo investigar a genealogia acadêmica dos pesquisadores bolsistas de produtividade em pesquisa do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, do nível 1 (PQ1-CNPq) em Ciência da Informação (CI). Assim, espera-se mapear a propagação do conhecimento através do pesquisador/orientador, além de evidenciar a contribuição dos pesquisadores na formação de recursos humanos para a área. Adota como procedimentos metodológicos: identificação dos bolsistas de produtividade em pesquisa em CI; coleta de dados na Plataforma Lattes e na Plataforma Acácia; análise e apresentação das árvores genealógicas acadêmicas dos pesquisadores. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que os PQ1-CNPq em CI orientaram 627 pesquisadores, tiveram 1.075 descendentes e linhagem acadêmica de quarta geração. Foram identificados também os ascendentes acadêmicos dos pesquisadores bolsistas, destacando aqueles ancestrais acadêmicos que mais contribuíram para a formação das gerações de pesquisadores da CI brasileira.

Smart City Research and Library and Information Science. Preliminary Remarks

PURPOSE/THESIS: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the smart city research field from the point of view of library and information science (LIS), based on available scholarly publications. APPROACH/METHODS: Based on the literature review, the following issues have been described: the smart city concept; the shift of smart cities from strictly technological orientation to that focused on the citizen, the role of smart governance, public libraries as a part of knowledge infrastructure and the current contribution of LIS to this research field.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Smart cities are still an emerging research domain. Not only the number of research publications is limited, but also their scope. LIS has been very little involved in a “smart city” research domain so far, and at the same time general literature on “smart cities” refers to public libraries in a very limited way. In general, there have been few attempts to relate information science and smart cities so far, and in each case researchers had problems with finding relevant literature. The most important LIS contribution to the field so far comes from the research project done by the team of experts from the Department of Information Science at Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf (Germany).ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The value of this research results from the fact, that there is very little in-depth, holistic research done in this domain by LIS researchers; hence there is almost no recognition of the role of public libraries in so-called smart cities, not only as knowledge hubs for explicit and tacit knowledge, but also as community building institutions. This paper offers first such attempt in the field.