Research and Publication Patterns in Library and Information Science

Abstract

The research and publication patterns of thirty-four topranking researchers in library and information science (LIS) in Africa were surveyed. The researchers produced 294 papers during the 1990–1995 period which were considered for this study. The findings reveal that majority of the researchers were from universities and were based mainly in Nigeria and South Africa. The principal research centres, however, were the Department of Library and Information Studies, University of Botswana and the Faculty of Information Sciences, Moi University, Kenya. The research investigations concentrated mainly on professional education, information science, library management and information technology. Of the fifteen top ranked journals used by the researchers, only two were published in Africa.

Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in <i>Nigerian Libraries</i>: 2005-2014

“…The findings of this study indicate that information and communication technology has become a popular and vital research area in LIS research in Nigeria in recent time. These results confirm the findings of previous study by Aina and Mooko [15] that information technology (or ICT) is a widely research area in LIS in Africa. The dominance of ICT in LIS research is attributed to the widespread application of ICT in the provision of library and information services in libraries in Nigeria.…”

“…The results of the study align with that of previous studies [14,5] that revealed dominance of single authors' papers in LIS research. The results obtained by Aina and Mooko [15] showed that 79.6% of publications in their study were published by single authors while Mujkerjee [6] found that the highest proportion of articles in his study was led by single authorship (35.59%). However, Mukherjee [6] had reported drastic decline in single authors' papers (35.59%) in favor of joint authors or co-authored papers (64.41%).…”

“…Within the past two decades or so, scholars have researched on trends in subject/research areas in LIS in Africa [10,15] and in global perspective. In this paper, the trend in themes/keywords/research areas in Nigerian Libraries was examined.…”

Research in Library and Information Science in South Africa : an analysis of journal research output from 1993-2006

“…Although Library and Information Science (LIS) studies of this nature solve problems related to collection development, information retrieval, systems design, user studies, management, and knowledge organisation, among others, in Africa bibliometric studies are limited. Those focusing on LIS are insignificant, with the exception of a few studies reported largely by West African scholars such as Aina (1998), Aina and Mabawonku (1997), Aina and Mooko (1999), Alemna and Badu (1994), Alemna (1996;200 I), Kadiri (200 I), and Mabawonku (200 I). There are a few noted studies in South Africa by Boon and Van Zyl (1990), Ocholla (2000: 200 I) and Ngulube (2005a;2005b).…”

Parliamentary library services in South Africa

“…Although Library and Information Science (LIS) studies of this nature solve problems related to collection development, information retrieval, systems design, user studies, management, and knowledge organisation, among others, in Africa bibliometric studies are limited. Those focusing on LIS are insignificant, with the exception of a few studies reported largely by West African scholars such as Aina (1998), Aina and Mabawonku (1997), Aina and Mooko (1999), Alemna and Badu (1994), Alemna (1996;200 I), Kadiri (200 I), and Mabawonku (200 I). There are a few noted studies in South Africa by Boon and Van Zyl (1990), Ocholla (2000: 200 I) and Ngulube (2005a;2005b).…”