Comparison between PR China and USA in the Field of Library and Information Sciences

Journal of East Asian Libraries Volume 1999 Number 117 Article 3 2-1-1999 Comparison between PR China and USA in the Field of Library and Information Sciences Weina Hua Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jeal BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Hua, Weina (1999) "Comparison between PR China and USA in the Field of Library and Information Sciences," Journal of East Asian Libraries: Vol. 1999 : No. 117, Article 3. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jeal/vol1999/iss117/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the All Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of East Asian Libraries by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact scholarsarchive@byu.edu, ellen_amatangelo@byu.edu.

comparison BETWEEN PR CHINA USA FIELD LIBRARY information SCIENCE weina hua nanjing nanking university subjects andjoumal journal publication periodical articles reveal much research situation given field 1977 bluma C peritz library science researcher america began quantitative analysis core journal articles library information science field assessing research methods subjects objects quantitative analytical techniques citations peritz 1980 several researchers followed model afterwards feehan 1987 nour 1985 china late eighties early nineties similar studies published present paper uses comparable data peoples republic china US analyze compare similarities differences library science field two countries data method data USA came four english language journal articles ref 141 4 china came two chinese journal articles ref 1011 11 comparable data used study classification research methods research subjects acts used american studies used paper alteration considering chinas cainas statistics samples studied articles core research journals library information science USA PR china total number research articles each year per cent total journal burnal articles shown table I1 table I1 research articles sample periodicals table 1 I research articles sample periodicals country USA PR china year 50 60 65 70 75 80 83 84 81 84 87 articles 110 128 171 323 387 343 615 355 645 633 ratio i 16 15 16 24 31 24.3 243 24 23.6 236 59.5 595 63.5 236 595 635 r718 71.8 american statistics collected 1950 chinese statistics 1981 statistics articles library science published united states began 1950 while those china date 1981 1 comparison citations excluded paper 718

comparison data I1 research methods comparison statistical data united states peoples republic china analyzed according research method shown table II 11 table 11 II research articles research methods research methods PR china USA 19811987 1987 19501980 1980 articles ratio articles ratio theoretical analysis 590 40 209 16.3 163 information system design 116 7.7 77 180 14 survey & experiment 41 2.8 28 bibliometric 37 2.5 25 387 28 497 38.7 387 62 25 80 6.2 62 content analysis 0 18 1.4 14 historic research 176 11.9 description 466 31.6 316 119 191 14.9 149 149 24 316 31 2.4 24 comparative 19 1.3 13 22 1.7 17 total 1458 1331 1 similarities number studies library history decreased each year both countries b number articles information system design increased each year both countries c bibliometrics special research method used library information science came being d both countries used comparative analysis studies 2 differences frequently used method US survey experiment method seldom used china b studies done US using survey method done mainly through questionnaire interview few surveys done china investigation library circulation types library 2

c method frequently used china theoretical analysis made then 40 total US average rate 16.3 163 limited using logic abstract thinking induction theoretical method china rate US much smaller d years surveyed articles used experimental method count dissertations library science 19731981 1981 19901993 1993 revealed 10 US works used experimental method 1.5 15 total papers used content analysis these same years 30 dissertations reflecting results content analysis almost papers china used these two methods e descriptive analysis US mainly used bibliographies china descriptions need know results foreign studies many introductions f none data two countries mentioned delphi method category used US 1984 data given kind research method often used united states especially prediction library dissertations 19731981 1981 1 12 articles based delphi method china method seldom used even prediction used research method united states survey experiment while china theoretical analysis theoretical analysis survey experiment two very different research methods former stresses macro thinking overview while latter focuses concrete individual theoretical analysis based logic experience induction leads theory relies thought processes survey experiment hand relies mainly data collection sorting analysis former may done study while latter generally should done survey interviews readers librarians 11 II research subjects table 111 III ili lii research articles 1984 research subjects research subjects PR china USA general 15.3 153 library & information profession 10.9 109 theoretical research 20.3 113 153 11.3 113 log 16.2 162 162 203 13.0 130 130 applied research 46.2 462 50.5 505 administration 6.4 64 5.7 57 public service 10.2 102 technical process 13.3 133 acquisition 5.3 53 57 65 102 6.5 65 33 133 3.3 33 114 53 11.4 114 3

table 111 III lii research articles 1984 research subjects users study 3.6 36 interlibrary loan 1.1 11 ii system 1.9 19 ig others 7.3 73 55 36 5.5 55 33 li 3.3 33 73 lg 7.3 73 90 73 9.0 go 90 1 similarities generally speaking percentages each subject two countries nearly same 2 differences b percentage articles library information profession higher US china china articles library types principles systems predictions while US consideration library profession librarians status salaries continuous education ethics moral categories subcategories theory research america works information science theory bibliography araphy bibliometrics china papers pure theory work especially basic theory general theoretical research c applied research work chinas cainas researches done using theoretical analysis little use ofsurvey experiment example total articles 1984 library administration 20.7 207 library sciencejournals these articles 61.5 615 used survey & experiment method china 6.4 64 gg total articles library administration 58.6 586 these used theoretical analysis review function process 207 published US importance management survey method accounted 4.9 49 papers concrete detail depth analysis applied studies done US superior those done china d united states articles library automation china america 1980 category library automation amounted 13.7 137 research 1984 7.3 73 china percentages 1.9 19 ig 1984 19 19872.5 198725 e users study method employed consistently both countries articles US publications tended look special readers hrom 19501975 1975 number articles sample grouped category 55 48 total those using users study method china studies general readers altogether 12 48 total users study 4 Z articles 8.7 87 total category centered special readers 87 49 4

111 III ili lii research objects objects here means libraries information institutes related agencies table IV research articles library types library types PR china USA articles relating libraries 20.3 public libraries 7.4 74 univ libraries 6.2 62 1984 1987 1975 1984 234 439 203 23.4 234 53 43.9 439 82 29 74 8.2 82 2.9 29 8.1 81 93 197 228 62 9.3 93 19.7 197 22.8 information agencies 0.9 og 09 0.6 06 og 6.7 67 22.8 09 special libraries 0.9 09 09 school libraries 1.4 14 06 67 og 1.6 lg ig 11.7 16 08 117 228 41 117 4.1 41 22 41 14 0.8 08 2.2 22 4.1 41 articles libraries university libraries number studies special libraries published US many years exceeded number studies public libraries china very few articles special libraries published IV quantitativenon quantitative analytical techniques 53 total sample US articles 1984 used quantitative analytical techniques china percentages 6 1984 6.8 68 1987 quantitative US library science research inferentialpredictive made 38 1984s quantitative papers according statistics published another US article enger 1989 sample library research articles done 1985 ratio quantitative non quantitative 12 these quantitative papers 64.9 649 descriptive quantitative 35.1 351 inferentialpredictive chinas cainas quantitative research articles almost wholly descriptive very few inferentialpredictive conclusion recommendations statistics above show library science china made much progress past two decades our research greatly improved discipline grown compared developed countries still long way go although thousands thousands articles published each year good ones few main weakness theory divorced practice articles suffered lack advanced research methods order improve our library sinfori information nation science research librarians china should my opinion advocate practical realistic research style encourage advanced practical 5

research methods strengthen quantitative studies library information science schools should add research methods courses classroom lecturing field practice demonstrations references 1 enger kathy B quirk georgia stewart J andrew statistical methods used authors library information journal articles library information 1989113746 research 1989113746 andinformation science 2 feehan patricia E etal library information science research analysis 1984 journal literature library information science research 19879173185 19879173 185 3 nour martyvonne Martyvonne M quantitative analysis research articles published core 19857261 library journals 1980 library information science research 19857261273 4 peritz bluma C methods library science research results bibliometric survey library research 198019812251268 19812251 268 5 schlachter gail thomison dennis library science dissertations 19731981 1981 annotated bibliography littleton colorado libraries unlimited 1982 6 dissertation abstractsinternational social sciences humanities 19901993 1993 7 hua weina comparative analysis library information science research PR china USA master thesis nanjing nanking kanjing university 1989 8 hua weina outline core journal USA bulletin library society china 199114753 273 burnal articles analysis library information science 9 hua weina comparative study periodical citation statistics chinese american library information science journal 0 library science china 199538894 10 hua weina quantitative analysis library information science journal china societyfor 226 science research china society por scientific technical information 1995143218-11 hua weina comparison between P R china & USA research methods subjects objects quantitativenon quantitative techniques field library science journal china societyfor technical information science 19971611320 information 19971611320 society por scientific 6