Abstract:
Bibliometric analysis is used by an increasing number of researchers in
the field of Library and Information Sciences (LIS). University libraries,
which spend large amounts of fund annually to acquire information
sources, face enormous problems related to the selection and the weeding
out of publications. To minimize or overcome these problems,
bibliometric studies are often used by librarians. The objective of the
study is to ascertain bibliometric features visible in the field of Library
and Information Sciences. For this purpose, 50 theses submitted for the
Master of LIS degree (MLS) of the University of Colombo and 20 theses
submitted for the Master of Social Science in LIS (MSSc) of the
University of Kelaniya were analyzed. From those 70 theses, a total of
4,901 citations were extracted using the lists of references and
bibliographies provided as the main source of primary data. These
citations were cross classified and tabulated according to a number of
variables. It was revealed that books were the most heavily used source
material, accounting for 39% of citations, while journals category
coming next with 34% of citations. Most heavily used book was the
“Organizational Behavior” by Robbins, (2001). “College and Research
Libraries” is found to be the most heavily used journal. Within the span
of 11 year study period, 485 journals were cited. A total of 1, 664
citations originated from these journals. The journal “College and
Research Libraries” ranks as the first in the core journals list with 66
citations. “Library news” which ranks the second place accounts for 52
citations. The mean half-life of all citations is almost 9 years, while the
mean half-life for journals and books are 7 years and 13 years,
respectively. Findings of the study are in conformity with the previously
reported research findings, which also reports that books as the main
source material for research studies in LIS fields.
