Citation analysis of dissertations for collection development

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 30-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilani Kanishka Abeyrathne

Purpose – This study aims to make recommendations for library collection development because undergraduates expect to satisfy their information need for research activities through library collection. Therefore librarian should assess whether the library is adequately responding their research demands. This can be answered by analyzing citations in the dissertations. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyzed 8,224 citations from 204 undergraduate dissertations submitted to the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2012. The most cited format was determined. Bradford’s law was applied to prepare a ranked list of journals. Accessibility of each core journals was observed and recommendations were made for collection development. Findings – Journals were the most cited format. Data sets were fit with either the verbal formula or mathematical formula of the Bradford’s law. Core journals were determined. Core journals were accessible via number of ways. Some journals are subscribed by the Agriculture or via databases through UGC consortia (through University of Peradeniya’s library network) or open access journals. There are several journals in which the free access is available through Sri Lanka Journals OnLine. Based on the results, recommendations were made for collection development. Originality/value – The paper provides useful insight for collection development for research demand, Agriculture Library, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
An Ping

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to adhere to the construction of foreign print books. Of course, when the funds are limited or reduced, we can adjust the collection structure according to the utilization situation and reduce the subjects or languages that readers use poorly. Provide data support for library collection development plan.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyzes the development and utilization of printed foreign language books based on the case of the National Library of China (NLC).The quality of library collection is analyzed by list checking method, and the utilization of library collection is analyzed by comparative analysis method and the statistical analysis method is used for language and subject areas, the questionnaire analysis method is used for users in NLC.FindingsForeign printed books plays a certain role in supporting domestic social users. The construction advantages of these print books need to be adhered to and developed. They should not be interrupted or cut down sharply because of many libraries are developing towards digital library or smart library nowadays. Libraries need to balance printed and digital resources in their collection and optimize their printed collection composition in terms of subject areas and unique resources to keep up with evolving needs of their patrons.Research limitations/implicationsIt is not compared with the utilization of e-books.Practical implicationsIn the transition period from traditional library to digital library, quantitative analysis of the construction and utilization of printed book resources can provide research support for the formulation of collection development planning, better service to users and better use of funds.Social implicationsIn the period of library transformation and development, it is of great practical significance to study the construction and utilization of printed books in NLC for resource transformation and service transformation. This paper gives the corresponding analysis and discussion on whether printed books should adhere to and whether they can be optimized.Originality/valueIn the period of Library Transformation and development, it is of great practical significance to study the construction and utilization of foreign language printed books in NLC. The printed book resources can provide research support for the formulation of collection development plan, better service to users and better use of funds.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2-7
Author(s):  
Robert Ridinger

Purpose – This paper aims to assess the state of reference publishing between 2003 and 2013 in print, online databases (free access and fee-based) and Internet sites for the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) studies. Background data on trends in non-reference monographic publishing and the growth of topical websites covering LGBT-related subjects are provided. Design/methodology/approach – The WorldCat bibliographical database was scanned for titles published during the decade 2003-2013 to ascertain trends in subject monographs within LGBT studies. The status of the pool of LGBT websites reviewed by the author in 2005 for Choice was checked to evaluate the stability of this expanding format of LGBT information. Those reference works and online resources identified were annotated and placed in the context of general LGBT reference publishing. Findings – Results of the study showed that the genres of encyclopaedias and handbooks continued to be produced for LGBT studies during the first decade of the twenty-first century. The creation of a database of full-text primary materials (ranging from newspapers and academic periodicals to research monographs) marks the recognition by the research community of the value of this body of formerly marginalized literature. The stability of the group of subject websites produced on LGBT topics delineated by the author in 2005 indicates that these resources can be effectively used in the reference process. Originality/value – The data in this article will assist librarians engaged in collection development and reference work by providing a contemporary analysis and bibliographic overview of the sources and types of reference tools in a new interdisciplinary field.


2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 86-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Gasparotto

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the bibliography citations from dissertations submitted to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Rutgers University from the ten-year period of 2003-2012. The objective of the analysis is to aid in collection development decisions, facilitate outreach to graduate students in the department and to understand possible changes in disciplinary methodologies and research needs in the field over the last decade. Design/methodology/approach – Descriptive research design was used for the study. Bibliography citation data were extracted from all dissertations submitted to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese from the period 2003-2012. Statistical analysis was performed on the collected citation data, and conclusions were drawn from the results. Findings – The study demonstrates that, despite the oft-mentioned “decline of the monograph”, the monograph remains very heavily used by PhD students in Spanish and Portuguese at Rutgers University, and that monographs continue to be cited at significantly higher rates and for longer periods than journal articles. This holds true for the humanities dissertations in Spanish literature as well as social science dissertations in Spanish linguistics. The study further finds that open access journals in Spanish literature are cited more frequently than closed access journals. Practical implications – The findings suggest that it is more user-responsive to allocate retrospective collections funds for filling in monographic gaps than journal coverage gaps, as journal articles are cited less frequently and for shorter periods, while monographs are cited more frequently and for slightly longer periods after they are published. The findings also suggest that current monographic expenditures be maintained or augmented to continue serving current and future graduate student research needs in Spanish and Portuguese. Further, the large number of monograph chapters cited suggests that book chapter document delivery services could be an important addition to a library’s suite of services if it is not already provided. Originality/value – This paper is the first analysis of Spanish and Portuguese dissertations conducted at Rutgers University and provides important contextual information for meeting the research needs of graduate students in the department through collection development and related services. Other research has documented that dissertation citation patterns are at least partially predictive of faculty citation patterns, making the findings of this study applicable to serving faculty research and collections needs in the department, as well. The findings are relevant to collection development, access services and librarian-department liaison relationships.


2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 670-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumeer Gul ◽  
Tariq Ahmad Shah ◽  
Nahida Tun Nisa

Purpose – The study aims to focus on the application of Web 2.0 tools in Agriculture and Food Sciences open access journals. The changing trends in scholarly publishing processes have revolutionised the academic world. The shifting of academic journals to open access mode has been on the rise because of the numerous benefits associated with it. The high level of profitability reaped from open access titles has forced them to experiment with new and innovative technologies, including Web 2.0. The new shift in the form of Web 2.0 has sifted in to the open access journal world. Open access journals in the field of Agriculture and Food Sciences are growing and so are the features and functionalities within them. Because of these new innovative tools there is an urgent need to focus on their adoption. Design/methodology/approach – Directory of Open Access Journals, being one of the growing open access journal directories, was selected for the purpose of data gathering. The journals selected for the study included those titles which were currently active. Findings – The open access journal landscape in the field of Agriculture and Food Sciences is influenced by the Web 2.0 revolution. The degree of experimenting with Web 2.0 in open access journals in Agriculture and Food Sciences is evident and can prove an excellent platform for the dissemination of agricultural information in a more advanced mode. Researchlimitations/implications – The study will be helpful for journal administrators who belong to the field of Agriculture and Food Sciences to know the actual status of Web 2.0 adoption by the journals in their field. The study can also be helpful for journal administrators for the adoption of Web 2.0 tools to achieve a better, more innovative and interactive scholarly platform. It will also enable us to know how the new pioneering technology – Web 2.0 – can help to explore new innovative ways of managing information in the scholarly world in general and the Agriculture and Food Sciences discipline in particular. Originality/value – The study can be extended to harness the effects of Web 2.0 on the research activities of the scholars associated with various disciplines of Agriculture and Food Sciences. How Agricultural scientists make use of Web 2.0 for sharing and exchange of information for their academic development can also be researched. The impact of Web 2.0 tools on the citation counts of open access journals can also be studied.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Har Singh ◽  
Preeti Mahajan

Purpose This study aims to investigate research scholars’ and faculty members’ perception, participation in collection development, satisfaction with the adequacy of the library collection and challenges faced during the recommendation of resources in selected university libraries of Northern India. Design/methodology/approach The data was collected with the help of a structured questionnaire from the research scholars and faculty members from all disciplines of five universities of Northern India. The comparison between the researchers and faculty members was carried out within the university, as well as across the universities. A total of 652 questionnaires were distributed, out of which 465 filled questionnaires were finally selected for data analysis. The collected data was analyzed with the help of SPSS and the hypotheses were tested using Chi-square (χ²) test. Findings The survey results found significant differences in awareness of collection development policy (CDP), as well as the recommendation of resources (i.e. textbooks, reference books, journals and magazines and non-book materials) between the research scholars and faculty members across the libraries. However, no significant difference was found between the opinion of the research scholars and faculty members on the adequacy of library collection across the libraries. Research limitations/implications The study was limited to five university libraries of North India which included Maharishi Dayanand University (Rohtak) and Kurukshetra University (Kurukshetra) from the State of Haryana Panjab University from Union Territory of Chandigarh and Punjabi University (Patiala) and Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar) from the state of Punjab. Practical implications The outcomes of this study will undoubtedly help the library authorities and management to understand the awareness of users (i.e. research scholars and faculty members) about the collection development process such as CDP of the library, kind of resources recommend, their assessment on adequacy of different kind of resources and their ultimate satisfaction from it. Originality/value The study is an extensive survey about the perception and participation of research scholars and faculty members in the collection development process of their respective libraries and indicates their satisfaction from the library collection.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 94-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aragudige Nagaraja ◽  
A.B Prashanth

Purpose – This study aims to analyze the resources used in the citations of 156 postgraduate dissertations submitted to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) through the Acharya & BM Reddy College of Pharmacy (ABMRCP), and prepares the core journal list according to the Bradford’s law of scattering. For any research and academic institutional libraries, books and journals are considered as key resources. As the resources are more and diverse, collection building is a tough task for librarians. Citation analysis is one of the best methods to list the most used resources by the users. The paper highlights the extent use of in-house resources and open access journals in the citations. Design/methodology/approach – Citations of PG dissertations during 2010-2013 (four years) were compiled, the data about the resources cited in each were taken and the list of resources used in PG dissertations was prepared. The list of core journals obtained by citation analysis was matched with the list of online journals provided by Health Science Library & Information Network (HELINET) of RGUHS as well as print list of journals subscribed by ABMRCP Library, and evaluated the print and online consortia journals used by ABMRCP community. The list of core journals’ ranking in the SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) list-pharmaceutical sciences was identified to know the impact of the journals. Findings – The study gives the list of different information resources cited in the pharmacy dissertations. The core list obtained by applying the Bradford’s law of scattering in this study has 19 journals pertaining to pharmacy. After matching the core list with the Keogh’s list, it is found that 31 journals can be considered very useful in the field of pharmacy. Twelve journals listed in the core list have different positions in the SJR ranking 2013. The results indicate that open-access journals with online journals subscribed through HELINET and print holdings have been cited more in the PG dissertations. Originality/value – The topic of journal use in this case may be of greatest interest to those who purchase journals in the sciences and, very specifically, the pharmaceutical sciences.


2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (7) ◽  
pp. 2481-2488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Winstel ◽  
Petra Kühner ◽  
Bernhard Krismer ◽  
Andreas Peschel ◽  
Holger Rohde

ABSTRACTGenetic manipulation of emerging bacterial pathogens, such as coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), is a major hurdle in clinical and basic microbiological research. Strong genetic barriers, such as restriction modification systems or clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), usually interfere with available techniques for DNA transformation and therefore complicate manipulation of CoNS or render it impossible. Thus, current knowledge of pathogenicity and virulence determinants of CoNS is very limited. Here, a rapid, efficient, and highly reliable technique is presented to transfer plasmid DNA essential for genetic engineering to important CoNS pathogens from a uniqueStaphylococcus aureusstrain via a specificS. aureusbacteriophage, Φ187. Even strains refractory to electroporation can be transduced by this technique once donor and recipient strains share similar Φ187 receptor properties. As a proof of principle, this technique was used to delete the alternative transcription factor sigma B (SigB) via allelic replacement in nasal and clinicalStaphylococcus epidermidisisolates at high efficiencies. The described approach will allow the genetic manipulation of a wide range of CoNS pathogens and might inspire research activities to manipulate other important pathogens in a similar fashion.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheri Jeanette Duncan ◽  
Genya Morgan O'Gara

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of a flexible collections assessment rubric comprised of a suite of tools for more consistently and effectively evaluating and expressing a holistic value of library collections to a variety of constituents, from administrators to faculty and students, with particular emphasis to the use of data already being collected at libraries to “take the temperature” of how responsive collections are in supporting institutional goals. Design/methodology/approach – Using a literature review, internal and external conversations, several collections pilot projects, and a variety of other investigative mechanisms, this paper explores methods for creating a more flexible, holistic collection development and assessment model using both qualitative and quantitative data. Findings – The products of scholarship that academic libraries include in their collections are expanding exponentially and range from journals and monographs in all formats, to databases, data sets, digital text and images, streaming media, visualizations and animations. Content is also being shared in new ways and on a variety of platforms. Yet the framework for evaluating this new landscape of scholarly output is in its infancy. So, how do libraries develop and assess collections in a consistent, holistic, yet agile, manner? Libraries must employ a variety of mechanisms to ensure this goal, while remaining flexible in adapting to the shifting collections environment. Originality/value – In so much as the authors are aware, this is the first paper to examine an agile, holistic approach to collections using both qualitative and quantitative data.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 134-135
Author(s):  
Kay Ann Cassell

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present interviews of two collection development managers: David Magier, Princeton University and Daniel Dollar, Yale University. Design/methodology/approach – The approach was interviews. Findings – These interviews showed what goes into the thinking of collection development officers in large university libraries. There are probably more similarities than differences. Originality/value – This is the first of a series of interviews with collection development managers.


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