Annals of Library and Information Studies: A Bibliometric Analysis

Transcription

1 Annals of Library and Information Studies: A Bibliometric Analysis Dr. Akhtar Hussain Web Librarian and Information Specialist, Civil Engineering Department-College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia akhtar.a47@gmail.com ABSTRACT A bibliometric analysis of the journal Annals of Library and Information Studies for the period from has been carried out. The present study demonstrates and elaborates the various aspects such as year-wise distribution of article, authorship patterns, institution wise distribution of contributions, subject wise distributions, citation patterns, length of article, rank of cited authors, geogaraphical distributions of authors etc. have been analysed. 1. INTRODUCTION Bibliometrics has emerged as thrust area of research incorporating different branches of human knowledge. Bibliometrics is a fast developing area in Information Science, which is defined as a discipline that investigates the properties and behavior of information. The term bibliometrics was coined by Pritchard in A pioneering example of a bibliometric study was statistical analysis of the literature of comparative anatomy from 1543 to 1860, done by counting book and journal titles, and grouping them by countries of origin and periods. In 1923, a study was conducted by Hulme, entitled Statistical Analysis of the History of Science. His analysis was based on the entries in the English International Catalogue of Scientific Literature. A third study was the work of Gross and Gross reported in They counted and analyzed the citations in articles from the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and produced a list of journals deemed important to chemical education. Another prominent work was Bradford s 1934 article on the distribution of literature in lubrication research. It AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 1

2 is an important part of the theoretical foundation of bibliometrics, Bradford s Law of Scattering. In 1948, the great library scientist, S.R. Ranganathan, coined the term librametry, which historically appeared first and was intended to streamline the services of librarianship. Bibliometrics is analogous to Ranganathan s librametrics, the Russian concept scientometrics, infometrics, and sub disciplines like econometrics, psychometrics, sociometrics, biometrics, technometrics, chemometrics, and climetrics, where mathematics and statistics are applied to study and solve problems in their respective fields. Scientometrics is now used for the application of quantitative methods to the history of science and overlaps with bibliometrics to a considerable extent. 2. SCOPE AND PURPOSE The scope of bibliometric includes the study of relationship within a literature and describing a literature. Bibliometrics studies are generally based on quantitative measurements without any qualitative evaluation. They are, therefore considered only as partial indicators of scientific progress. The scope of bibliometrics includes studying the relationship with a literature (citation studies) or describing a literature typically, these descriptions focus on consistent patterns, involving authors, monographs, journals or subject / language. It is a quantitative science and it is divided into two basic categories. Description and Evaluative bibliometrics. The descriptive Bibliometrics further includes the study of the number of publications in a given field or productivity of literature in the field for the purpose of comparing the amount of production during different periods or the amount product in different subdivisions of the field. This kind of study is made by a count of the papers, books and other writings in the field or often by a count of these writings which have been abstracted in specialized abstracting journals. Evaluative Bibliometrics includes the study of literature used by research worker in a given field. Such a study is often made by counting the references cited by a large number of research workers in their papers. 3. ANNALS OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION STUDIES Annals of Library and Information Studies earlier published as Annals of Library Science and Documentation is published by the NISCAIR (formerly known as INSDOC), which is an apex body for the promotion of library and AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 2

3 information science profession in India. INSDOC has started it publication long back in 1952 and its 54 th volume was in brought out. It covers various current and up to date issues related with library and information science profession such as professional development, public and special library development, classification and cataloguing, IT and its application in libraries, digital and virtual libraries, bibliometrics, articles on standardization and international cooperation among various library associations and institutions. 4. NEED OF THE STUDY Journals/Periodicals are the indicators of literature growth in any field of knowledge. They emerge as the main channel for transmitting knowledge. Due to the increasing cost of the periodicals and lack of adequate library budgets, the selection of any particular journal for a library should be done carefully. Library authorities are forced to reduce the number of journal subscriptions. Bibliometric analysis has many applications in library and information science in identifying research trends, core journals, etc., and thereby framing subscription policies. These studies will be helpful for librarians in collection development. Hence, theses sources play a significance role as guide to the researchers working in the same field. 5. LITERATURE REVIEW Literature plays a very important role in research activities, as it forms the very first step of a research pursuit. This paper presents an overall review of studies conducted abroad as well as in India regarding the topic. The researcher reviewed only those studies which are related to the present study concerned. Hussain and Fatima (2011) in their study a bibliometric analysis of the Chinese Librarianship: an International Electronic Journal ( ) found that USA is the most prolific country; highest paper cite the journal Interlending and Document Supply; the majority of papers were contributed by single authors. Hussain, Fatima,and Kumar (2011) aims and objectives of the study to present a bibliometric analysis of the Electronic Library journal, the aim being to offer a summary of research activity in library and information science and characterize its most important aspects. The paper analyzes a bibliometric study of 578 articles were published during the period January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2010 in the Electronic Library journal.verma N, Tamrakar R & Sharma P (2007) revealed that majority of the articles in the journal are two-authored and majority of the contributions are from New Delhi, the place of publication of Annals of Library AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 3

4 and Information Studies. Study of citations showed that Annals of Library and Information Studies received the highest number of citations, followed by Scientometrics, and IASLIC Bulletin. Thanuskodi S (2010) investigated that the maximum number of contributors are single authors with The Study revealed that majority of articles (96.85) contain references which include journals, books, conference proceedings, dissertations, etc.the study Lochan Jena K (2006) is an attempt to illustrate that the journal is popular among Indian scholars in the area of textile technology. Tiew WS (2000). It was found show that 53 of articles contained journal self-citations, the rate of journal self-citations per article ranges between 1 to 12, a high percentage of authors (61.4) contributing articles to the journal cited themselves, and a tendency is noticed for authors affiliated to the institution publishing the journal to cite the journal. Swapan Kumar Patra S, Bhattacharya P, &Verma N (2006). This paper analyses growth pattern, core journals and authors' distribution in the field of bibliometric using data from Library And Information Science Abstract (LISA). 6. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1. To study the authorship pattern, year-wise, institution-wise and geographical distribution of contributions of the journal; 2. To determine the subject wise distributions, average length of articles and average number of citations per article in the journal; 3. To study the types of publications cited in the contributions of the journal; and 4. To prepare ranked list from journals cited in the contributions of the journal. 7. METHODOLOGY The methodology applied in the present study is bibliometic analysis, which is used to study in detail the bibliographic attributes of the articles and citation analysis of the references at the end of each article published in Annals of Library and Information Studies from Five volumes (vol 53 to 57) containing twenty issues of ALIS have been taken up for the study. The details with regard to each published articles, number of authors, name of authors, address of authors, number of references and their forms, number of pages, number of tables and figures etc. Then they are tabulated and analysed for making observations. AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 4

5 8. DATA ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY All the details such as author(s), title, year of publication, pagination, institutional affiliation, etc.of all articles published from 2006 to 2010 were recorded for the following analysis. 8.1 Year-Wise Distribution of Article Table 8.1 indicates the year-wise distribution of articles in the journal. The numbers differs from year to year and there is also steady increase in the number of articles from the year 2006 to 2010.Out of total 166 articles, the maximum numbers of articles are in the year 2010 contributing 43 articles, which are to the total publications. The minimum numbers of articles are in the year 2006 with 26 articles, which are to the total publications. Table 8.1: Year-Wise Distribution of Article Year Vol. No. Numbers of Issues Articles Total Authorship Patterns Table 8.2 reveals the authorship pattern of the articles published during the period of study. The largest number of articles had two authors 76 (45.78). This is followed by single author 54 (32.53), three authors 32 (19.24) and multiple authors with 4 (2.41) of the total articles. AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 5

6 ISSN No Table 8.2: Authorship Patterns Authors Years Articles Single Author Two Authors Three Authors Multiple Authors Total Institution-wise distribution of contributions Table 8.3 examined the Institution-wise distribution of contributions. A majority of the articles 60 (36.14) were contributed by academic and research institutes. This is followed by faculty members with 56 (33.73), information/documentation centers 24 (14.46) and special library 15 (9.04) articles. The remaining 6 (3.61) articles were contributed by other institutions. Only a small percentage of authors i.e. 4(2.41) research scholars and one (0.060) Government Department was contributed. AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 6

7 ISSN No Table 8.3: Institution-wise distribution of contributions Contributed by Years Articles Academic/Research Institutes Faculty Members Research Scholars Special Library Govt. Departments Documentation Centers Others Total Subject-wise distribution The particulars of subject-wise analysis of articles are shown in the Table 8.4.The majority of authors are contributed 47(28.31) articles related to different subjects. The next position is taken by electronic resources 27 (16.27). This is followed by information service 24 (14.46) and libraries and Internet 20 (12.05). Table 8.4: Subject-wise distribution Subjects Years Articles Electronic Resources AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 7

8 ISSN No Library Automation Library and Internet Library Profession Digital Libraries Academic Libraries Public Libraries Special Libraries OPACs RFID Applications Information Services Others Total Length of articles The table 8.5 depicts that the detail about page length of articles. The majority of contributions have pages length of articles of 5-9 pages for example 98(59.04), whereas 33(19.88) contribution have pages length of 1-4 pages. There were 29(17.47) contribution have length of article of followed by 5(3.01) have length of pages. There was only one contribution that has page length between pages, i.e., (0.60). Table 8.5: Length of articles Pages Years Total AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 8

9 ISSN No Total Study of citations Table 8.6 indicates that the detail of number of citations appearing at the end of contribution in the year 2006 to 2010.Out of 166 articles published, 2 articles have no citations. The highest number of articles with citation between is 54 (32.53), whereas 52 (31.33) articles have citation between 1-9.The lowest number of contributions with citation between 80 and more is 2. Table 8.6: Study of citations Citations Years Articles more NIL Total Distribution of Citations AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 9

10 ISSN No The table 8.7 reveals that the 5 volumes have 3056 citations add to the 166 articles. Out of 3056 citations, vol.57 has the highest number i.e., 1045 (34.20) and vol.54 has the lowest number i.e. 371 (12.14). Table 8.7: Distribution of Citations Year Vol. No. Number of Issues Citations Years 5 Vol Types of Publication Table 8.8 indicates that the majority of the contributors preferred journals as the source of information which occupied the top position with the highest number of citations 1681(55.01) of the total 3056 citations. The second highest position is occupied by online search/websites with 418 (13.68) citations. It is followed by books with 411(13.45). Table 8.8: Types of Publication Types of publications Years Articles Journals AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 10

11 Books Online search/websites Conference/seminar/workshops etc Report(Govt./Projects/Commission /Committee) Reference sources Thesis/Dissertations Newspapers/Magazines Others Total State-wise distribution of contributions Table 8.9 focuses the state-wise distribution of contributions in the five volumes of the journal. Out of 166 contributions, the highest number, i.e., 62 (37.35) has been contributed by authors from New Delhi and lowest number i.e., 1 (0.60) has been contributed by authors from Jharkhand. There were only 19 contributions are from foreign countries i.e., Nigeria, Hungary, Belgium etc. Table 8.9: State-wise distribution of contributions Ranks Name of States Contributions 1 New Delhi Karnataka Tamil Nadu West Bengal U.P Madhya Pradesh AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 11

12 7 Maharashtra Kerala Manipur Andhra Pradesh Punjab Assam Gujarat Orissa Rajasthan Uttarakhand Himachal Pradesh Jammu &Kashmir Pondicherry Jharkhand Foreign Ranking of contributors of articles Table 8.10 shows the ranking of authors/contributors of articles. In the rank list the contributors who have contributed more than 5 articles. There are a total of 305 of contributors for 166 articles. B.K.Sen has contributed 10 articles whereas K.C.Garg contributing 7 articles. Suresh Kumar contributed 5 articles. Others have contributed less than 4 articles during the period of study. AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 12

13 Table 8.10: The most prolific contributors in 2006 to 2010 Ranks Authors contributions 1 B.K.Sen K.C.Garg Suresh Kumar B.Dutt Dinesh K. Gupta B.S.Biradar Bhaskar Mukharjee Mohd. Nazim Prakash Chand Vijay Kumar Authors contribution 2 times Authors contribution 1 times Ranked list of cited journals The information found in journals is useful because it is committed to disseminating original research and commentary on current developments in a AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 13

14 specific discipline, sub-discipline, or field of study. The core journal also reflects research, academic discourse and opinion and so on. It periodicity is usually in quarterly, bimonthly, or monthly issues sold by subscription. Ranked list of journals helps in selecting the journals for acquisition in different libraries as the list shows the journals of maximum utility amongst the users. Table 11 examined that the ranked list that Scientometrics occupied first rank with 90 citations (5.35), second rank occupied by Annals of Library and Information Studies with 58 citations (5.45). This is followed by IASLIC Bulletin with 50 citations (2.95). Table 8.11: Ranked list of cited journals Ranks Name of Journals Citations Cumulative 1 Scientometrics Annals of library science and documentation IASLIC Bulletin Malaysian Journal of Lib. & Info. Science Annals of Library and Information Studies SRELS Journals of Information Management J. of Amer.Society for Info. Science & Tech Journal of Information Science Journal of Documentation Current Science Annals of Library and Information AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 14

15 Studies 10 College and Research Libraries European Research Libraries cooperation Indian J.of Information Library and Society Journal of Academic Librarianship International Information and Library Review Information Development Library Review Library Sci. with Slant to Doc.& Info. Sciences Online Program DLIBCOM Library Philosophy and Practice Science and Technology Librarianship Titles with 9 citation Titles with 8 citation Titles with 7 citation Titles with 5 citation AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 15

16 20 17 Titles with 4 citation Titles with 3 citation Titles with 2 citation Titles with 1 citation FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The study sought to indicates that the bibliometric analysis of the journal Annals of Library and Information Studies for the period from has been conceded. It is found that the maximum numbers of articles are in the year 2010 contributing 43 articles, which are to the total publications. The analysis shows that majority of the articles in the journal are two-authored and majority of the contributions are from New Delhi, the place of publication of Annals of Library and Information Studies. On the basis of analysis it found the ranked list that Scientometrics occupied first rank with 90 citations (5.35), second rank occupied by Annals of Library and Information Studies with 58 citations (5.45). However, journal refers to a record of events, experiences, thoughts, and observations kept on a regular basis by an individual for personal use. Writers often keep a daily journal to record ideas and material that may subsequently be incorporated into their works. REFERENCES 1. Hussain, A. & Fatima, N. (2011). A bibliometric analysis of the Chinese Librarianship: an International Electronic Journal, ( ), Chinese Librarianship: an International Electronic Journal, 31. Available at: AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 16

17 2. Hussain, Akhtar, Fatima, Nishat, & Kumar, Devendra (2011). Bibliometric analysis of the 'Electronic Library' journal ( ). Webology, 8(1), Available at: 3. Lochan Jena K, A., (2006). Bibliometric analysis of the journal Indian journal of fibre and textile research Annals of Library and Information Studies, 53(1), Swapan Kumar Patra S, Bhattacharya P, and Verma N.(2006). Bibliometric Study of Literature on Bibliometrics. DESIDOC Bulletin of Information Technology, 26(1), Thanuskodi S. (2010). Bibliometric Analysis of the Journal Library Philosophy and Practice from Library Philosophy and Practice. Available at: 6. Tiew, W.S. (2000).Characteristics of Self-citations in Journal of Natural Rubber Research : a ten-year bibliometric study. Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 5(1), Verma N, Tamrakar R and Sharma P. (2007). Analysis of contributions in 'Annals of Library and Information Studies. Annals of Library and Information Studies, 54(2), AURANGABAD. (M.S) INDIA. 17