Bibliometrics in Information Science: A Citation Analysis of Two Academic Library Journals (Research Note)

Bibliometrics has been applied in varying degree and format to much of the literature of information science. La Borie investigated subject, form, and dates of a group of library science dissertations done between 1969 and 1972. Peritz analyzed the bibliometric data found in a core of information science journals in numerous articles and her 1977 dissertation. Brace studied the frequency of citations of specific authors and periodical titles in library and information science dissertations. Windsor examined the quantity of references in information science papers. It is apparent that there is no lack of interest in this aspect of information science. Academic librarians, by nature of their situation in higher education, publish more than any other group of librarians. Because of this frequency of publishing, academic librarians rely on journals as a medium for communicating their research efforts. An examination of the references found in journals of academic librarianship can reveal some interesting bibliometric patterns. Questions specifically asked in this study are (1) do academic librarians use more periodical articles or monographs in their research; (2) do articles in specific journal titles reference that specific journal; and (3) in what years are the majority of references found? A citation analysis was conducted in an attempt to answer these questions.