Growth and nature of international LIS research: An analysis of two journals

The study explores the publication trends of scholarly journal articles in two core Library and Information Science (LIS) journals indexed under ScienceDirect Database during the period for the period 2000–2010, and for the “Top 25 Hottest Papers” for 2006–2010. It examines and presents an analysis of 1000 research papers in the area of LIS published in two journals: The International Information & Library Review (IILR) and Library & Information Science Research (LISR). The study examines the content of the journals, including growth of the literature, authorship patterns, geographical distributions of authors, distribution of papers by journal, citation pattern, ranking pattern, length of articles, and most cited authors. Collaboration was calculated using Subramanyam's formula, and Lotka's law was used to identify authors' productivity. The results indicated that authors' distributions did not follow Lotka's law. The study identified the eight most productive authors with a high of 19 publications in this field. The findings indicate that these publications experienced rapid and exponential growth in literature production. The contributions by scientists from India are examined.     

Empty calories? A fragment on LIS white papers and the political sociology of LIS elites

White papers – reports conveying research or recommendations on a complex issue – arrive in the inboxes of academic librarians, along with an obligation to monitor them if they can help one's library or university. They seem to invariably disappoint, the written equivalent of empty calories. This paper asks: is this true? If so, how so? And why? To answer, a selection method produced a modest subset of current, topical white papers to analyze – hence this article as a fragment on recent, topical white papers. A simple discourse analysis was performed to find if there was a broad pattern the documents followed, and if a more analysis was required. A clue as to why this pattern prevailed came from criticisms of prognostications about the current pandemic (as of this writing), leading to a return to the reports: who authored them, and how they are situated in political-sociological terms in LIS discourse? The concluding findings fit with earlier analyses, suggesting much about prestige in LIS and how that is maintained, how practices are (and are not) formulated – and what that has to do with the white papers.     

Problem‐solving performance in naturalistic groups: A test of the ecological validity of the functional perspective

Critics argue that the use of zero‐history laboratory samples to study the processes of small‐group communication lacks ecological validity and limits our ability to determine the usefulness of small group communication theories for the everyday practitioner. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the functional perspective of small‐group communication has real‐world significance by testing its predictive ability in naturalistic problem‐solving groups in an organizational setting. Statistical analyses provided partial support for the relationship between functional requisites and problem‐solving performance in an applied setting. Specifically, analysis of the problem, orientation/establishment of operating procedures, and evaluation of the positive consequences of alternatives were each found to have an independent main effect on the level of decision utility.     

An attempt of data exchange between the institutional repository and the information environment for the management of scientific research—ARP

In the present paper an attempt of data exchange between the institutional repository based on DSpace and the Academy Resource Planning System (ARP) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which is the information environment for management of scientific research in CAS, was described. It includes the development of a tool based on browser which imports data from EXCEL into DSpace and a tool which exports data from DSpace into EXCEL. Consequently, data can be exchanged between ARP and DSpace through EXCEL. In addition, the way to customize the input form and the display page according to different types of documents was introduced.     

Managing E-book Acquisition: The Coordination of “P” and “E” Publication Dates

For many research libraries, the book acquisition process has grown increasingly complicated and unwieldy as libraries seek both print and electronic formats, practice both patron-driven and library-selected purchasing, and must accommodate a wide range of patron and disciplinary preferences in setting these priorities. In this presentation, Gabrielle Wiersma of the University of Colorado Boulder and Sarah Forzetting of Coutts Information Services describe an integrated approval plan system that manages all book acquisition processes to reduce inefficiency and streamline librarian workflows.