scholarly journals Application of Interdisciplinary Theory of Genres in LIS

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1A(115A)) ◽  
pp. 57-74
Author(s):  
Marek Nahotko
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Genre Theory ◽  
Social Constructs ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
Social Rhetoric ◽  
Other Information ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Media Discourse Analysis ◽  
Interdisciplinary Theory ◽  
Information Objects

Purpose/Thesis: The article presents the possibilities of using the interdisciplinary theory of genres, developed in the study of linguistics, literary studies, rhetoric, sociology, philosophy, psychology and other disciplines, in library and information science (LIS). The article argues the application of genre theory to LIS offers a new and interesting interdisciplinary perspective.Approach/Methods: A critical analysis of the literature on the subject introduces the basic premises of the interdisciplinary theory of text/information genres in its historical development in the world and in Poland. A similar method was used to present the most important directions genre theory opens to LIS.Results and conclusions: Before genre theory was first applied to LIS, it was developed in disciplines such as linguistics, literature, rhetoric, communication and media, discourse analysis, sociology, pedagogy and others and in many countries on all continents (mainly in the USA, Australia, Brazil and Scandinavian countries). The theory’s success is a result of its interdisciplinary development, beginning from linguistic and classical rhetorical genres approach and problems of categorizing texts to “de facto genres” and their function in everyday communication activities (social/rhetoric approach). Applied to LIS, it frames information objects as social constructs whose meaning is constructed in social discourse, driven by genre knowledge. The library and other information systems should be treated as a social communication activity in the recurrent situation of organizing and retrieving information. It means that the work of a librarian (or other information organizers) involves rhetorical activity of creating information objects, as does the work of other information creators, e.g. authors of scholarly publications. The functioning of information system, i.e. production and organization of textual information should be investigated using methods applied in other disciplines, especially humanities and social sciences, as it allows for a broader research perspective.Originality/Value: The article describes the possibilities of applying genre theory in LIS research, which still do not receive the attention they merit. A wider knowledge of the genre theory would make possible collaborative research involving scholars of other disciplines such as linguistics and sociology.

scholarly journals Almost Halfway There: An Analysis of the Open Access Behaviors of Academic Librarians

2011 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Mercer
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Open Access Publishing ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
Scholarly Communications

Academic librarians are increasingly expected to advocate for scholarly communications reforms such as open access to scholarly publications, yet librarians do not always practice what they preach. Previous research examined librarian attitudes toward open access, whereas this article presents results of a study of open access publishing and self-archiving behaviors of academic librarians. Following an analysis of open access to library and information science literature in 2008, several strategies to encourage academic librarians to continue to embrace open access behaviors are discussed.

Journal packing density of library and information science research journals at the global level: a study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Pandita ◽  
Shivendra Singh
Keyword(s):  
Packing Density ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Journal Publishing ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
The Usa

Purpose This study aims to find out the average journal packing density (JPD) of Library and Information Science (LIS) research journals published across the world. The concept, JPD, means the average number of research articles published by a research journal in one volume. Accordingly, the undergoing study evaluates the average number of research articles published in each volume of each research journal published in the field of LIS at the global level. Some other key aspects evaluated include the number of LIS research journal publishing countries, average JPD of LIS research journals at the continental level, etc. Design/methodology/approach This study is purely based on secondary data retrieved from SCImago, which is SCOPUS data. Keeping in view the objectives of this study, the data about research articles published in all LIS research journals during the period 2015 through 2019 were retrieved to undertake the study. Findings From the data analysis, it emerged that 256 research journals duly indexed by SCOPUS are published in the field of LIS across 36 countries. In all 48,596 research articles were published from 2015 to 2019 in these research journals at an average of 44.71 research articles per journal per volume. More than 75% of LIS research journals are published from Germany, Spain, Netherlands, the USA and the UK. Research journals published from the USA have higher JPD of 53.09 research articles per journal per volume, which is 18.74% higher than the average global JPD of LIS research journals. 50% of LIS research journal publishing countries are from Europe and the majority 52.55% LIS research articles were published in European LIS research journals. The average JPD of LIS research journals published from North America is 51.73 research articles per journal per volume, which is the highest across continents. Research limitations/implications Standardization of JPD of research journals irrespective of the subject discipline they are published in is important for many reasons and the foremost being, such standardization helps in keeping at bay the predatory research journals, which normally float such packing density norms, with the sole aim to earn money in the shape of manuscript handling charges, thereby publishing a far greater number of research article in each issue of a journal than the average research articles published by a research journal. Originality/value Very few studies have been conducted around the concept JPD, especially by the authors of this particular study. This study has however been particularized to the LIS subject discipline, while the findings add to existing lot of study already undertaken, hence outcome can be generalized.

scholarly journals Digital curation: the development of a discipline within information science

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 1318-1338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Curation ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Financial Ecology

Purpose Digital curation addresses the technical, administrative and financial ecology required to ensure that digital information remains accessible and usable over the long term. The purpose of this paper is to trace digital curation’s disciplinary emergence and examine its position within the information sciences domain in terms of theoretical principles, using a case study of developments in the UK and the USA. Design/methodology/approach Theoretical principles regarding disciplinary development and the identity of information science as a discipline are applied to a case study of the development of digital curation in the UK and the USA to identify the maturity of digital curation and its position in the information science gamut. Findings Digital curation is identified as a mature discipline which is a sub-meta-discipline of information science. As such digital curation has reach across all disciplines and sub-disciplines of information science and has the potential to become the overarching paradigm. Practical implications These findings could influence digital curation’s development from applied discipline to profession within both its educational and professional domains. Originality/value The disciplinary development of digital curation within dominant theoretical models has not hitherto been articulated.

scholarly journals Should Women Consult Health Agencies in Matters of Birth Control and Contraception?

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
Kraetschmer K
Keyword(s):  
Birth Control ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Safety And Efficacy ◽  
Contraceptive Devices ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
The Us ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Harmful Effects

Background and Aim: On the background of recent developments revealing the harmful effects of contraceptive devices which are recommended by health agencies the paper aims at analyzing publications and other information material emanating from these agencies. This analysis – guided by the bioethical principle of informed consent — focuses on flawed science, ambiguous language, and misleading data. Method and Material: The method consists of collecting and analyzing information provided by health agencies for consumers inquiring about the safety and efficacy of contraceptive products. The material comprises documents, charts, leaflets and other publications emanating from the most authoritative and most frequently consulted health agencies, in particular those active in the US and European countries. Results and Implications: As a result of the investigation women must be advised to consult only a selected number of health agencies, especially those which take into account findings of pharmacovigilance, pharmaceutical vigilance, and scholarly publications focusing on the safety of contraception. The implications from an economic perspective are the discontinuation of funding through taxpayer money for those health agencies which continue to disseminate flawed science and demonstrate incompetence in questions about the safety of contraception.

scholarly journals Library and Information Science in the USA and Iran

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Nguessan ◽  
Shima Moradi
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Comparative Investigation ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Library Science ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Definition Of

In a context of global mobility of skilled professionals, this is a comparative study of library science education and librarianship in the USA and Iran. The study attempts to determine how education and professional skills may transfer from one country to another. Historically, the USA and Iran are two different major centers of development of knowledge, science and technology and culture. Each one of these two countries developed its own system of general education and library science education and professional practice. This study investigates the definition of the librarian profession, historical perspectives, types of librarians and librarian-related positions, the initial academic training of librarian (schools, duration, curriculum, and accreditation), daily activities of librarians, continuing education, and opportunities and challenges of the profession in each country. The qualitative research methods was selected to conduct this study. This investigation leads to a comparative analysis pointing out similarities and differences. The first part of the paper present historical perspectives and library science education and librarianship. The second part of the paper presents contemporary library science education and librarianship in each country. The last part of the paper is a comparative critical discussion of both systems. This study concludes that, even though both systems are different, with the globalization of knowledge, education, and communications, under certain circumstances, one could consider a librarian “qualified” to practice across the border. Contributions: The comparative investigation of LIS profession and education have been conducted for the first time.

Shaping the Librarian’s Library

2012 ◽  
pp. 88-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Searing
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
Electronic Publishing ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Policy Statement ◽  
Collection Development ◽  
Price Increases ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Negative Perceptions

Library and Information Science (LIS) is primarily a graduate program of study which prepares students for careers in librarianship and other information professions. However, faculty and students are not the only users of LIS collections in campus libraries; academic librarians also need LIS information to support their research and practice. Effective collection development for LIS is grounded in a well-thought-out policy statement and employs time-proven strategies including title-by-title ordering, approval plans, standing orders, and judicious acceptance of gifts. A well-rounded and responsive collection spans several publication formats and includes works from publishers that specialize in LIS content as well as non-commercial grey literature. The challenges that LIS selectors face include the proliferation of distance education programs, the interdisciplinarity of the field, the shifting landscape of electronic publishing, serial price increases, the drive for assessment, negative perceptions of the quality of the literature, and the need to promote collection use. Because there has been little written about LIS collection development practices, there are many opportunities for further research.

A comparative analysis of instructional course themes in LIS and museum studies programs in the USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 120 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 426-450
Author(s):  
Brady Lund ◽  
Ting Wang
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Museum Studies ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Curriculum Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Content Development ◽  
Instructional Roles ◽  
The Usa

Purpose Considerable overlap exists between the disciplines of library and information science and museum studies. Exploiting the overlap and examining those areas were library/museum instruction courses diverge may provide valuable insights for how to improve the quality of these courses and better prepare students for instructional roles in both disciplines. Design/methodology/approach Word frequency and thematic analysis of the instructional course descriptions for all 52 American Library Association-accredited Master of Library and Information Science programs in the USA and 49 museum studies and affiliated (e.g. MA in anthropology with museum studies concentration) programs is performed. Findings Each discipline has some specific language to describe tasks specific to itself (e.g. museums), but these comprise a small percentage of the total language usage. Among other terms and themes, overlap occurs at a rate of about 50%. The remaining 35-45% of terms and themes reveal areas that are emphasized in only one discipline, but could be beneficial to incorporate in the curriculum/content in both disciplines. Research limitations/implications This research builds on a growing corpus of work demonstrating relations between museum studies and library and information science, and their status within a metadiscipline of information; this research presents a comparison of course content that may inform future curriculum/content development. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study of this type has been performed with museum studies courses, nor has a comparison between the two disciplines been investigated at this level.

Embedded librarians as research partners in South Korea

2020 ◽  
pp. 096100062096255
Author(s):  
Eun-Ja Shin
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Information Science ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Science Department ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Final Draft ◽  
The Usa

Recently, many articles co-authored by librarians have been published in non-library and information science journals. This may indicate that embedded librarians are actively working as research partners in various fields. However, studies have rarely discussed the roles and experience of embedded librarians and, unlike the USA and European countries, the activities of embedded librarians in Korea are not well reported. This study collected and analysed co-authored articles from Korean faculty and librarians. In addition to identifying the role of the embedded librarian by analysing the author-contributions texts of the articles, the study examined the backgrounds of librarians and the difficulties of collaborating through interviews with librarian authors. The results of the analyses show that the number of collaborative articles by faculty and embedded librarians increased over the years and, of these, almost 70% were medical publications. The roles of the librarians outlined in the author-contributions texts were as reported in previous studies but, in many cases, their role was more significant than traditional liaison work, such as reporting the study’s methodology or approving the final draft. In the interviews, the embedded librarians expressed that they had experienced some difficulties, such as lack of time, insufficient guidelines and an inadequate curriculum in their library and information science department. For librarians to be recognized as research partners, they need to communicate well with team members and have knowledge, skills and abilities related to the research. Further, to achieve this collaboration, the curriculum of departments should be reformed. If such efforts are made, it is expected that embedded librarians will continue to excel in their role as liaison librarians, which has contributed to supporting research projects.

Publications by faculty members indexed in Science Citation Index and Scopus: an Iranian case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1247-1258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Golnessa Galyani-Moghaddam ◽  
Hassan Jafari ◽  
Asghar Sattarzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Science Citation Index ◽  
Citation Index ◽  
National Level ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Science Citation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
The Usa

Purpose The paper aims to report an investigation that was conducted to identify the scholarly publications by faculty members of the Allameh Tabataba’i University that were indexed in two international databases, Science Citation Index (SCI) and Scopus, from the year the databases first included Iranian-authored papers (1987 and 1989, respectively) through the end of 2015. Design methodology/approach Scientometric methods and social network analysis techniques were used to conduct the study and to analyze the co-authorship network. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were carried out on the data. Quantitative analysis was accomplished using Microsoft Excel, while the qualitative analysis was carried out using HistCite, VOSviewer and Pajek software. Findings Faculty members had the most international cooperation with colleagues from the USA and Switzerland, and they jointly authored papers with faculty and staff from other universities within Iran. The three institutions with the highest rate of co-authorship included the Islamic Azad University, Tehran University and Amir Kabir University of Technology. Practical implications The overall overlap among the two databases was about 21 per cent. The number of papers indexed by Scopus (583 records) was more than that by SCI (410 records). The total number of papers at an international level was much lower than that at the national level (6,426 records) in both the databases. Originality/value This paper provides insight into the scholarly works by the faculty of Allameh Tabataba’i University indexed in two international databases, SCI and Scopus. It also examines the co-authorship network structure.

scholarly journals Truth Distancing? Whistleblowing as Remedy to Censorship during COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-381
Author(s):  
Vigjilenca ABAZI
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Timely Manner ◽  
The Public ◽  
Reporting Systems ◽  
The World ◽  
Other Information ◽  
The Usa ◽  
And Control ◽  
Do So

In the COVID-19 pandemic, whistleblowers have become the essential watchdogs disrupting suppression and control of information. Many governments have intentionally not disclosed information or failed to do so in a timely manner, misled the public or even promoted false beliefs. Fierce public interest defenders are pushing back against this censorship. Dr Fen and Dr Wenliang were the first whistleblowers in China to report that a new pandemic was possibly underway, and ever since, numerous other whistleblowers around the world have been reporting on the spread of the virus, the lack of medical equipment and other information of public interest. This paper maps the relevant whistleblowing cases in China, the USA and Europe and shows that many whistleblowers are initially censored and face disciplinary measures or even dismissals. At the same time, whistleblowing during the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn public attention to the shortcomings of institutional reporting systems and a wider appreciation of whistleblowers as uniquely placed to expose risk at early stages. Ultimately, whistleblowing as a means of transparency is not only becoming ever less controversial, but during COVID-19 it has become the “remedy” to censorship.

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