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Research paper topics in library and information science

A systematic approach is best when undertaking research in the library and information science. Not only should you have an in-depth knowledge of major themes in the area, but you should also be aware of current research methods and topics of influence, such as library systems, cooperation between libraries, and the flow of information between libraries.

Finding a good research paper topic can greatly depend upon your interests and what you took away from your coursework. Paying attention in classes and taking adequate notes makes it easier to assimilate that knowledge into a coherent research paper topic. Take a look at the following research paper topics for some ideas:

  • A critical analysis of student attitudes towards cataloguing and classification in college campus libraries
  • The Impact of Public Libraries at the state level
  • The implementation of information and communication technology in academic libraries in Brazil
  • Evaluating the effect of feminization and professionalization on librarianship
  • The challenges involved in running private libraries in Nigeria
  • Defining comparative and international library and information science
  • An assessment of international cultural exchange through libraries
  • The role of international librarianship in promoting freedom of information and expression
  • International issues faced by librarians and information science professionals with regard to the knowledge society
  • Exploring the relationship between government schools and public libraries in the context of South Asia
  • The importance of resource-sharing in an international library network: bridging gaps using modern technology
  • Tackling indigenous knowledge by adopting innovative tools and strategies
  • The influence of library aid in developing countries during globalization
  • A critical comparison of American librarianship and information science research in European countries
  • Learnings from major book acquisitions in American academic libraries
  • The expanding purview of American ideas in German public libraries
  • The British Council and its critical role in building bridges across the developing world

Browsing through sample topics in library and information science can help you brainstorm your own ideas more effectively. Take the time to scan such resources and choose a topic that you can convincingly discuss and analyze. A good source for potential research paper topics and paper help is mypaperwriter.com , also papers written by past students as well as reputed works in the field.

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Library Trends

Melissa A. Wong, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Journal Details

Library Trends  addresses critical trends in professional librarianship. Each issue is a special topic issue, exploring a key area of activity or interest. Guest editors are selected by Melissa A. Wong, editor-in-chief, with the advice of the Editorial Board, based on the content of submitted proposals.

Issue topics for  Library Trends  are developed in many ways. We value recommendations from professional librarians, archivists, and other information personnel, from members of the faculties of schools of library and information science, and from others whose concern is with issues of the management of cultural heritage. We seek volunteers from these areas to act as guest editors.

A guest editor proposes the theme and scope of a new issue, draws up a list of prospective authors and article topics, calls for submissions to the issue, arranges for review of the manuscripts, provides short annotations of each article’s scope, and prepares a statement of philosophy guiding issue development.

The style and tone of the journal is formal rather than journalistic or popular.  Library Trends  reviews current theory and practice and identifies and evaluates new directions for both practice and research. Papers must represent original work. Extensive updates of previously published papers are acceptable, but revisions or adaptations of published work are not acceptable. Both issue proposals and the papers they contain are subject to rigorous external review.

If you would like to submit a proposal, it should include the nature and scope of the proposed topic and suggestions of the names of individuals whom you hope would contribute the articles. For ease of review, please submit your CV and a proposal using the following format:

1.Guest editor name and contact information

2.Proposed issue theme/draft issue title

3.Description of the nature and scope of the issue’s topic (300-500 words)

4.List of potential articles (8-10 articles)

5.List of potential authors to solicit (8-10 authors)

6.List of potential reviewers for the manuscripts (4-5 reviewers)

7.Proposed timeline for proposals, authoring, editing, etc. (12-14 months typical)

Please send your ideas, inquiries, or issue proposal to [email protected] .

The guest editor is responsible for adhering to the deadlines and page limits established by Library Trends editorial staff.  They will notify the Library Trends managing editor, Natasha Sims ( [email protected] ), regarding progress in the development of the issue, issues that may occur with securing manuscripts, and problems with the content of manuscripts.

Throughout the entire production process, the managing editor will remain in close contact with the guest editor.  If at any point in the process the guest editor and authors have questions, they should immediately contact the managing editor.

The Production Process

1.The guest editor(s) will provide an ordered table of contents to the editor-in-chief as well as a list of all contributing authors, including for each an email address and daytime telephone number.

2.Having completed the review process and confirmed that the article manuscripts follow the “Author Instruction for the Preparation of Articles,” the guest editor(s) will provide the articles to the journal’s general editor for review and approval.

3.All articles will be reviewed and approved by the journal’s editor-in-chief. For articles that are approved, revisions may be requested on occasion.

4.The journal’s managing editor will review for completeness all material submitted— including abstracts, author biographies, tables, figures, etc.—to be included in the respective articles. Any questions at that time will be referred to the issue editor.

5.The managing editor will send  publishing agreements  to authors and may need assistance from the issue editor in obtaining the authors’ signatures. Government employees may need to sign a separate publishing agreement (articles provided under governmental auspices need to be accessible in the public domain, and copyright cannot be transferred).  Translation permission forms  also will be required if the issue includes articles that have been translated into the English language.

6.The managing editor will assist authors with the process required to obtain  written permission to reprint any copyrighted material (photos, illustrations, etc.) , whether previously published or not, that falls outside the bounds of fair use.  Production cannot proceed until all forms are signed and on file.

7.Manuscripts will be submitted by the managing editor to the journal’s publisher, The Johns Hopkins University Press, for production of the issue: copy editing, typesetting, proofreading, and preparing files for printing. 

8.Copy editing consists of reviewing the manuscripts for style, format, organization, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and reference consistency; this process takes 6-8 weeks.  It does not include substantial content editing, which is the responsibility of the guest editor  prior to submission. During the copy-editing stage,  authors will be given an opportunity to review their manuscripts  and asked to answer any questions (articles authored by more than one person will be sent to the lead author). If the author(s) cannot review the article, the guest editor will need to answer any outstanding editorial queries. 

9.When copyedits have been reviewed and approved, the issue will be typeset. A complete set of page proofs will then be sent to a proofreader, who will closely read the issue; this process takes 2-3 weeks. Thereafter, the managing editor will review the proofs and resolve with the authors any queries raised by the proofreader (which also takes 2-3 weeks). The guest editor’s role at this stage is to review any article they have authored, as well as to assist the managing editor in resolving queries if the authors are not available to review their articles.

10.Finally, the issue will be sent to the printer; approximately 4 weeks later, advance copies will be available. Complimentary digital copies for the guest editor(s) and all authors will be emailed shortly thereafter. PDF files of individual articles will be available upon request by contacting the managing editor, Natasha Sims, at [email protected] .

Check back for future calls.

Please review the Library Trends Guest Editor and Author Handbook to learn more about the production process, review helpful guidelines, and find answers to frequently asked questions.

The Hopkins Press Journals Ethics and Malpractice Statement can be found at the ethics-and-malpractice  page.

Peer Review Policy

Each issue of  Library Trends  is a special-topic issue and is overseen by one or more guest editors. Articles are invited or the result of a call for proposals. The guest editors manage a peer review process for each issue and draw upon a reviewer pool developed for their expertise around that issue's topic. The process may be single-blind, double-blind, or open at the discretion of the guest editors. 

Editor-in-Chief

Melissa A. Wong, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA

Managing Editor

Natasha Sims, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA

Editorial Board

Hermina G.B. Anghelescu, Wayne State University, USA   Tiago Emmanuel Nunes Braga, Brazilian Institute for Information in Science and Technology, Brazil   Camille Callison, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada   Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA    Noah Lenstra, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA   Rachel Magee, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA    Amal W. Mostafa, Cairo University, Egypt   Linda Smith, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA   Travis Wagner, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA   Yuxiang (Chris) Zhao, Nanjing University, China

Abstracting & Indexing Databases

  • Current Contents
  • Web of Science
  • Dietrich's Index Philosophicus
  • IBZ - Internationale Bibliographie der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Zeitschriftenliteratur
  • Internationale Bibliographie der Rezensionen Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlicher Literatur
  • Academic Search Alumni Edition, 1/1/1993-
  • Academic Search Complete, 1/1/1993-
  • Academic Search Elite, 1/1/1993-
  • Academic Search Premier, 1/1/1993-
  • Academic Search: Main Edition, 1/1/1993-
  • Biography Index: Past and Present (H.W. Wilson), vol.38, 1989-vol.56, no.4, 2008
  • Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson), Apr.1984-
  • Business Source Corporate, 1/1/1993-, dropped
  • Business Source Corporate Plus, 1/1/1993-
  • Corporate ResourceNet, 1/1/1993-
  • Current Abstracts, 1/1/2000-
  • Education Abstracts (H.W. Wilson), 4/15/1984-
  • Education Index (Online), 1984/04-
  • Education Research Complete, 1/1/1993-
  • Education Research Index, Jan.1993-
  • Education Source, 4/15/1984-
  • Information Science & Technology Abstracts, 1/1/1993-
  • Library & Information Science Source, 1/1/1937-
  • Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson), 04/15/1984-
  • Library Literature & Information Science Index (H.W. Wilson), 4/15/1984-
  • Library Literature & Information Science Retrospective: 1905-1983 (H.W. Wilson), 1/1/1937-12/16/1983
  • Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), 1/1/1966-
  • MainFile, 1/1/1993-
  • MasterFILE Complete, 1/1/1993-
  • MasterFILE Elite, 1/1/1993-
  • MasterFILE Premier, 1/1/1993-
  • MasterFILE: Main Edition, 1/1/1993-
  • MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association)
  • OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson), 4/15/1984-
  • Professional Development Collection, 1/1/1993-
  • Professional Development Collection: Main Edition, 1/1/1993-
  • Public Affairs Index, 6/1/1993-
  • RILM Abstracts of Music Literature (Repertoire International de Litterature Musicale)
  • Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies
  • TOC Premier (Table of Contents), 1/1/1995-
  • Scopus, 1980-
  • Business & Company ProFile ASAP, 1/2000-
  • Business ASAP, 1/2000-
  • Business ASAP International, 1/2000-
  • Business Insights: Essentials, 06/1978-
  • Business Insights: Global, 06/1978-
  • Gale Academic OneFile, 06/1978-
  • Gale Academic OneFile Select, 06/1978-
  • Gale General OneFile, 06/1978-
  • Gale in Context: College
  • Gale in Context: Elementary
  • Gale OneFile: Business, 06/1978-
  • Gale OneFile: Educator's Reference Complete, 06/1978-
  • Gale OneFile: High School Edition, 01/1985-
  • Gale OneFile: Information Science, 06/1978-
  • Gale OneFile: Leadership and Management, 06/1978 -
  • Gale OneFile: Popular Magazines, 06/1978-
  • General Business File ASAP, 1/2000-
  • General Reference Center, 06/1978-
  • General Reference Center Gold, 06/1978-
  • General Reference Centre International, 1/1980-
  • InfoTrac Custom, 1/1980-
  • Student Resources in Context, 06/1978-
  • Gale In Context: Canada, 06/1978-
  • Gale in Context: High School
  • Magazine Index Plus, Jan.1998-
  • ArticleFirst, vol.38, no.3, 1990-vol.60, no.1, 2011
  • Electronic Collections Online, vol.54, no.1, 2006-vol.60, no.1, 2011
  • Library Literature, vol.32, 1984-vol.59, no.1/2, 2010
  • Periodical Abstracts, v.36, n.3, 1988-v.59, n.1/2, 2010
  • Personal Alert (E-mail)
  • Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Database, 1/1/1988-, dropped
  • Education Collection, 1/1/1988-
  • Education Database, 1/1/1988-
  • Library & Information Science Collection, 01/01/1988-
  • Library Science Database, 01/01/1988-
  • LISA: Library & Information Science Abstracts (Online), Core Coverage - Actively Indexed
  • PAIS Archive, vol.6, 1957-vol.25, no.2, 1976
  • Periodicals Index Online
  • Professional ProQuest Central, 01/01/1988-
  • ProQuest 5000, 01/01/1988-
  • ProQuest 5000 International, 01/01/1988-
  • ProQuest Central, 01/01/1988-
  • ProQuest Professional Education, 01/01/1988-
  • ProQuest SciTech Collection, 1/1/1988-
  • Research Library, 01/01/1988-
  • SciTech Premium Collection, 1/1/1988-, dropped
  • Social Science Premium Collection, 01/01/1988-
  • Technology Collection, 1/1/1988-, dropped
  • Referativnyi Zhurnal, coverage dropped

Abstracting & Indexing Sources

  • Chicano Index   (Ceased)  (Print)
  • Children's Literature Abstracts   (Ceased)  (Print)
  • Family Index   (Ceased)  (Print)
  • Legal Information Management Index   (Ceased)  (Print)
  • Personnel Literature   (Ceased)  (Print)
  • Middle East: Abstracts and Index   (Researched / Unresolved)  (Print)

Source: Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory.

0.3 (2023) 0.7 (Five-Year Impact Factor) 0.00041 (Eigenfactor™ Score) Rank in Category (by Journal Impact Factor): 131 of 160 journals in “Information Science & Library Science”

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Dissertation Topics In Library And Information Science

Introduction.

Over and above, when you need to write something for a particular subject, it makes sense to consider what you want to write about. Writing may not be for you, but as a student, this is a very crucial requirement that you need to accomplish in order for you to graduate on time.

Are you in need of profound topics to write about in your scholarly thesis that has something to do with library and information science? It is true that deciding for the appropriate topic that you can consider for your paper is an exhausting stage. However, this can be outlasted if you will give it your best shot in researching for the best possible subjects that you know are worth talking about. Luckily, you can go over various offline and online resources and unveil from there the topic that precisely matches your writing skills.

Here is a collection of dissertation topics in Library and Information Science that you can delve into:

  • Tackle change management in the library environment that is especially intended for organizational renewal
  • The role and accreditation of the academic library in undergraduate, graduate as well as other teaching programs
  • Benchmarking as an approach to obtain results; your library’s use of benchmarking and the outcomes, issues and opportunities
  • Discuss collection development strategies for scholastic programs
  • Time study or cost of services, programs and collections in the library, including the detailed description of the approaches and results at your library
  • Developing a yearly scholastic agenda for the library. Discuss the benchmarks and performance measure
  • Talk about electronic resources and their significant impact on scholastic library as the intellectual and social core of the school
  • Development programs and fund raising for libraries
  • Tackle the remarkable impact of cultural and demographic changes on library services
  • Discuss the linkage between life-long learning and libraries: what this conveys and what are the necessary steps that need to be taken?
  • The changing role of the library in the information economy
  • Talk about the literacy programs carried out in the library environment

Students nowadays do not need to suffer from choosing what suitable topic to write about. If you are tasked to discuss something that is connected with library and information science, you will surely have countless of possible options to pick from. Take a look at the topic ideas provided in the list above and from there you can decide which one is right for you.

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Home > FACULTIES > Information & Media Studies (FIMS) > LIS-ETD

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Library and Information Science Theses and Dissertations

This collection contains theses and dissertations from the Department of Library and Information Science, collected from the Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Theses/Dissertations from 2024 2024

Advancing Anti-Racism in Public Libraries for Black Youth in Canada , Amber Matthews

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Recreational nastiness or playful mischief? Contrasting perspectives on internet trolling between news media and avid internet users , Yimin Chen

Discourse, Power Dynamics, and Risk Amplification in Disaster Risk Management in Canada , Martins Oluwole Olu-Omotayo

Folk Theories, Recommender Systems, and Human-Centered Explainable Artificial Intelligence (HCXAI) , Michael Ridley

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Exploiting Semantic Similarity Between Citation Contexts For Direct Citation Weighting And Residual Citation , Toluwase Victor Asubiaro

The Use of Intimate Partner Violence Websites: Website Awareness, Visibility, Information Quality, Perceived Usefulness, and Frequency of Use , Sze Hang Lee

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

The General Artificial Intellect , Ramon S. Diab

The Public Library as Past Become Space , Greg Nightingale

Making Sense of Online Public Health Debates with Visual Analytics Systems , Anton Ninkov

Information, Employment, and Settlement of Immigrants: Exploring the Role of Information Behaviour in the Settlement of Bangladesh Immigrants in Canada , Nafiz Zaman Shuva

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Accessibility And Academic Libraries: A Comparative Case Study , Claire Burrows

The Information Practices of New Kadampa Buddhists: From "Dharma of Scripture" to "Dharma of Insight" , Roger Chabot

Narratives of Sexuality in the Lives of Young Women Readers , Davin L. Helkenberg

Strategic and Subversive: The Case of the Disappearing Diaphragm and Women’s Information Practices , Sherilyn M. Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Informing care: Mapping the social organization of families’ information work in an aging in place climate , Nicole K. Dalmer

A Study of Six Nations Public Library: Rights and Access to Information , Alison Frayne

Information Freedoms and the Case for Anonymous Community , Rachel Melis

Academic Librarians and the Space/Time of Information Literacy, the Neoliberal University, and the Global Knowledge Economy , Karen P. Nicholson

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Expertise, Mediation, and Technological Surrogacy: A Mixed Method Critical Analysis of a Point of Care Evidence Resource , Selinda Adelle Berg

The E-Writing Experiences of Literary Authors , Kathleen Schreurs

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Understanding Collaborative Sensemaking for System Design — An Investigation of Musicians' Practice , Nadia Conroy

Laying the Foundation for Copyright Policy and Practice in Canadian Universities , Lisa Di Valentino

Towards Evidence-Informed Agriculture Policy Making: Investigating the Knowledge Translation Practices of Researchers in the National Agriculture Research Institutes in Nigeria , Isioma N. Elueze

Different Approaches for Different Folks , Alexandre Fortier

Creating Context from Curiosity: The Role of Serendipity in the Research Process of Historians in Physical and Digital Environments , Kim Martin

Alternate Academy: Investigating the Use of Open Educational Resources by Students at the University of Lagos in Nigeria , Daniel Onaifo

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Contentious information: Accounts of knowledge production, circulation and consumption in transitional Egypt , Ahmad Kamal

Multilingual Information Access: Practices and Perceptions of Bi/multilingual Academic Users , Peggy I. Nzomo

Words to Live By: How Experience Shapes our Information World at Work, Play and in Everyday Life , Angela Pollak

Watching Storytelling: Visual Information in Oral Narratives , James Ripley

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Africa: Investigating Information Access and Use of Information and Communication Technologies by Women-Owned Enterprises in Zambia , Daniel Mumba

Young adults reflect on the experience of reading comics in contemporary society: Overcoming the commonplace and recognizing complexity , Lucia Cederia Serantes

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Space, Power and the Public Library: A Multicase Examination of the Public Library as Organization Space , Matthew R. Griffis

Knowledge Organization Practices in Everyday Life: Divergent Constructions of Healthy Eating , Jill R. McTavish

Semantics-based Automated Quality Assessment of Depression Treatment Web Documents , Yanjun Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Making Sense of Document Collections with Map-Based Visualizations , Olga Buchel

A Critical Historical Analysis of the Public Performance Right , Louis J. D'Alton

Intellectual Property and Its Alternatives: Incentives, Innovation and Ideology , Michael B. McNally

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Information Practices of People Living with Depression: Constructing Credibility and Authority , Tami Oliphant

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Library and information science research papers/topics, underutilisation of internet facilities at universities a case study of jomo kenyatta memorial library (jkml) university of nairobi and united states international university africa (usiu a).

Description: A Project Report by Muthoni Dorothy Njiraine, Submitted in in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Information Science of Makere University

Perspectives on Knowledge Management:: A Literature Review

Abstract: This paper is a study of theoretical perspectives on knowledge and Knowledge Management. Business organizations in the 21st century need effective Knowledge Management practices in order to enhance the performance and growth of their businesses and ensure long-term sustainability and competitive advantage. An understanding and appreciation of knowledge as a strategic resource is critical for organisational decision makers so that they can take Knowledge Management more seriously. T...

Motivation Cognitive and Behavioral Theories and Techniques

This paper describes Motivation: Cognitive and behavioral theories and techniques, it analyzed the three theories underlying the cognitive and behavioral theories and techniques, it examined the expectancy theory, assumptions underlying expectancy theory, the explanation, the applicability of the expectancy theory. It also examined the equity theory of motivation, gave an explanation of the equity theory, application of equity theory in an educational organization. It also examined the goal s...

A Critique of the paper ‘Library Architecture around the World’ by Garba, Chiwendu and Mustapha

For the past two decades, libraries have been dramatically reinventing their physical spaces. The traditional model of cavernous reading rooms and dark warrens separated by stacks of books is incompatible with the digital age. The library of today and tomorrow must provide versatile spaces that support a wide range of users’ learning and research activities while accommodating rapid advances in information technology (IT). As expectations for library resources and physical facilities have c...

How to Write an Empirical Review

The purpose of the paper is to offer guidance on how to write an empirical review. The paper presented an introduction, and discussed the concept of empirical review, the importance of empirical review, steps for writing empirical review, apractical approach to writing an empirical review, characteristics of a good empirical review and concluded with the following statement; well-crafted empirical reviews are the cornerstone of good papers, however it is not uncommon to find weak, or even abs...

Diversity of Information Services in the Library World

Regardless of which type of library and the environment it is designed to serve, the basic mission and objectives of information service provision should be to support and promote natural and social justice, equity, fair play and democratization of information access and utilization.  It is within this perspective that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities under the principles of non-discrimination, equal opport...

Controlled vocabulary

Virtually every common word in the English language has more than one meaning or senseand many of those senses have more than one nuance; many words can be used as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and/or adverbs. Search systems that purport to allow the use of natural language cannot yet successfully distinguish among different meanings or various parts of speech in very large general systems, although some progress has been made in narrow subject areas. 

Concepts of statistical analysis

In many fields of research, null hypothesis, significance tests, and p values are the accepted way of assessing the certainty with which research results can be extrapolated beyond the sample studied. The inevitable difficulties of statistical inference mean that these probabilities can only be tentative, but probabilities are the natural way to express uncertainties, so, arguably, researchers using statistical methods have an obligation to estimate how probable their hypotheses are by the be...

Concept of Information Retrieval and the Strategies

Information retrieval system (IRS) came into being as a means of ensuring that information generated and recorded do not get over time. Before knowledge became recorded, individuals formed the repository of knowledge. With libraries, repository of knowledge began to change into recorded form. 

An organized structure for vocabulary control

This paper examined the concept of controlled vocabulary, it gave the definition and discussed the major concerns in establishing a controlled vocabulary, the types of controlled vocabulary. The principles of creating vocabulary control, principles for applying controlled vocabulary, controlled vocabulary standards, mechanics of vocabulary control, the merits and demerits of vocabulary control, and vocabulary control challenges and their solutions, and other vocabulary control challenges. The...

A legal approach to indexing and Abstracting in academic libraries

The main aim of information is to get information at the right time. Therefore, this paper takes a legal approach to indexing and Abstracting in academic libraries. It generally takes an extensive look at the importance of indexing and abstracting as a tool for effective retrieval and dissemination of information in any academic library. 

A Critical Analysis of the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress houses the largest information resources, records and archival collection of materials in the world (Whitman, 2021). As part of the Library's mission to make its resources available and useful to the American public, the Library has digitized a number of these materials and has also created an array of online secondary sources that highlight life and work. 

Information Need and Seeking Behaviour of Pregnant Women in Ughelli General Hospital, Delta State

This paper examined the topic on information needs and seeking behaviour of Pregnant Women in Ughelli General Hospital, Delta State to this end therefore, the researcher came up with four objectives which are: to identify the information needs of pregnant women in ughelli general hospital, to ascertain the information seeking behaviour of pregnant women in ughelli general hospital, to identify the information sources used by pregnant women in ughelli general hospital, to identify challen...

Administration and Management of Digital Libraries: An Overview

This paper examined administration and management of digital libraries: an overview. The concept management was clearly defined and explained in the context o f the work; thereafter the term digital library was explained succinctly as an age that is characterized by efficient and effective conversion, storage, diffusion and dissemination of data to users. The various services that are performed in the digital environment were listed as follows: Circulation Services (Reader Services); Ser...

Knowledge and Access to Primary Health Care Information Among Women in Rural Setting

Primary health care center offer professional medical care for individuals based on a locality or community before shifting them to more advance hospital-based care. Unfortunately, few studies exist on Knowledge and access to primary health care information among women in rural area in developing countries. This study adopted interpretative paradigm and collected qualitative data using Dervin Sense-Making theory approach. The collected data were analyzed using inductive analytical processes. ...

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College & Research Libraries News  ( C&RL News ) is the official newsmagazine and publication of record of the Association of College & Research Libraries,  providing articles on the latest trends and practices affecting academic and research libraries.

C&RL News  became an online-only publication beginning with the January 2022 issue.

Members of the ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee: Brian D. Quigley (chair) is head of the sciences division at the University of California, Berkeley Library, email: [email protected] . Thomas R. Caswell (vice-chair) is associate dean for academic engagement at the University of Central Florida Libraries, email: [email protected] . Jennie M. Burroughs is senior program advisor and researcher at the University of Minnesota Libraries, email: [email protected] . Laura Costello is director of access and information services at the University of Minnesota Libraries, email: [email protected] . cristalan ‘tal’ ness is linguistics librarian and social sciences resident librarian at the University of Michigan, email: [email protected] . Kristin Van Diest is digital publishing librarian at Texas State University, email: [email protected] . Minglu Wang is research data management librarian at York University, email: [email protected] . Anna Yang is science librarian at Santa Clara University, email: [email protected] .

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ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee

2024 Top Trends in Academic Libraries

A Review of the Trends and Issues

T his article explores the topics and issues that have been trending in academic libraries over the past two years. It draws on research and initiatives from librarians across the profession, highlighting the constant change libraries face. The launch of ChatGPT sparked discussions about the potential impact of artificial intelligence, open access and open science initiatives continued to gain momentum, and the lingering effects of COVID-19 on library workspaces and student well-being remained significant. Rich citations to the literature provide opportunities for further exploration.

AI and AI Literacy

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a trend in academic libraries for several years, but the release of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools has sparked renewed interest in the topic. This could have profound implications for academic libraries in the future. As Andrew M. Cox and Suvodeep Mazumdar note, “There is immense potential for it to increase access to knowledge in fundamental ways, for example through improved search and recommendation, through description of digital materials at scale, through transcription, and through automated translation.” 1 AI also raises a host of ethical and legal issues, ranging from concerns about bias, privacy, non-representative training data, and misinformation to issues around copyright, plagiarism, and exploitation. 2

Due to their ease of use, generative AI tools like ChatGPT have become extremely popular. These tools leverage large language models (LLMs) trained on massive datasets of text or images. LLMs use neural networks and natural language processing to analyze input prompts and generate responses based on the statistical patterns learned from the training data. Beyond ChatGPT, AI is also being incorporated into literature searching, summarization, and programming tools such as Elicit, Semantic Scholar, scite, and Copilot for GitHub. 3 With the growing popularity of these tools among students, faculty are increasingly turning to librarians to help cultivate AI literacy, discussing AI and its impact on literature searching and citations with their classes. 4

Duri Long and Brian Magerko define AI literacy “as a set of competencies that enables individuals to critically evaluate AI technologies; communicate and collaborate effectively with AI; and use AI as a tool online, at home, and in the workplace.” 5 Leo S. Lo outlines a framework to assist librarians and students in developing more effective prompts for generative AI, a process called prompt engineering. As he states, using his framework, “librarians can help students develop critical thinking skills, improve their comprehension of AI-generated content, and optimize AI-based research processes.” 6 It is also important to raise awareness among students of the potential problems associated with AI including accuracy, hallucinations, bias, ethical issues, and environmental impact. Some institutions have begun developing workshop series to discuss and facilitate conversations with students about these issues, 7 and the University of Florida has started an AI Across the Curriculum initiative to introduce all undergraduate students to AI and better prepare them for the future workforce. 8

Academic libraries have also been pursuing possible roles for AI within the library itself. This has included setting up AI research spaces, exploring robotics, investigating ethical issues and implicit bias in machine learning, and experimenting with using AI to classify images, refine metadata, and improve discovery. 9 Many also see a broader role for libraries within the AI landscape. Fiona Bradley calls for libraries to be involved in AI discussions at the national level and notes that “the sector is already participating in consultations and processes to ensure that the future of AI is rights-based, ethical, and transparent.” 10

Open Pedagogy and Instructional Design

Although open educational resource (OER) initiatives are not new, libraries have recently begun expanding their impact by investigating the potential to enrich student learning through open pedagogy. In their timely book, Mary Ann Cullen and Elizabeth Dill explore the foundation, approaches, and implementation of open pedagogy as a strategy for information literacy in higher education. 11 Open pedagogy requires students to be actively involved in the design, creation, and curation of OER learning materials through renewable assignments. These assignments invite students to contribute to the production and dissemination of knowledge, pushing them past more traditional library projects. Wikipedia assignments are among the most popular forms of renewable assignments, encouraging students to find, evaluate, and improve upon the information on its pages. 12 Other examples of renewable assignments include creating research toolkits, online courses, ebooks, and living websites. 13 Each of these renewable assignments allows students to see themselves as active creators of information rather than passive consumers.

According to Eric Werth and Katherine Williams, to increase student motivation, “OER-enabled pedagogy must be structured in a way that allows autonomy, competence, and relatedness.” 14 Aligning OER projects with practical and real-world knowledge can positively impact student engagement. 15 At the heart of this engagement is inclusive practice. By creating a supportive environment where all students have access to the same materials, instructors foster inclusivity in their courses. 16 Instructors can also motivate students to see the value of open pedagogy by helping them find their own interests and passion within these assignments, 17 showing students that they have control over their content, 18 and demonstrating that their work can have a global impact. 19

Concerns have been raised about the high workload and long-term sustainability of open pedagogy. Kate McNally Carter and Ariana Santiago find that “workload was often minimized or entirely overlooked as a factor in many studies in favor of highlighting student success outcomes” and advise working toward sustainability by creating adaptable renewable assignments that can fit into many contexts and subject areas. 20 Bryan McGeary, Christopher Guder, and Ashwini Ganeshan further suggest that broad groups of staff should contribute to this important work for OER-enabled pedagogy to be sustainable. 21

Open Science and Reproducibility

As early advocates for open access and research data management, libraries are now assessing their potential roles in the burgeoning open science movement, which increasingly emphasizes equity, collaboration, reproducibility, security, and privacy in supporting the whole research ecosystem. 22 Much of this recent interest in open science has been spurred by the federal government, with US agencies collaborating on the Year of Open Science campaign, and NASA launching its Transform to Open Science (TOPS) initiative and Open Science 101 virtual training. 23 At the institutional level, many universities and libraries have joined the Higher Education Leadership Initiative for Open Scholarship (HELIOS Open), which aims to collaborate on “a more transparent, inclusive, and trustworthy research ecosystem” through presidential commitment, campus engagement, and communities of practice. 24

As open scholarship gains momentum, libraries face growing calls to expand their roles beyond technical support. Authors from UNESCO emphasize the need for libraries to be “a bridge between local contexts and the global scholarly community,” 25 while LIBER (Association of European Research Libraries) identifies “advancing open science” as a core component of its strategy, aiming for libraries to “stimulate, facilitate, co-develop and manage infrastructures and practices designed to take Open Science to the next level.” 26 Reflecting these calls, a recent book from ACRL positions open science as “an emerging synthesis of the various streams of open.” 27 It recommends changes to incentive structures and urges consolidation of siloed services to create an open infrastructure aligned with open research values and available equally to all researchers. By promoting open practices and facilitating infrastructure development, libraries can solidify their place as leaders in the evolving open scholarship landscape.

As advocates for open science, libraries also contribute to one of its key outcomes: reproducibility. 28 This new area of service requires librarians to become deeply integrated in research communities, understanding researchers’ needs and tools while simultaneously leveraging their unique position as institutional hubs to connect stakeholders and research services partners. 29 Thanks to stricter National Institutes of Health demands for research rigor and reproducibility, health science librarians have emerged as key players in educating researchers on these topics. Their success stories showcase libraries’ potential to deliver valuable instruction in this crucial area, while also underlining the critical need for collaborative partnerships to further enhance research reproducibility services. 30

Open Access and Equitable Publishing

In the wake of recent calls for more open research publication practices, researchers have been exploring the impact of article processing charges, transformative agreements, open access models, and new policy development on equity and access in publishing practices.

Findings show that faculty perceptions of open access publishing have remained virtually the same over the past twenty years, citing commonplace challenges that have yet to be resolved: uncertainty around the prestige of open access journals, confusion around types of open access, and lack of clarity and acceptance of open access in the promotion and tenure process. 31 On the other hand, students increasingly rely on open access articles in their assignments. A study of community college students found that 56.8% of their citations were open access articles, with one key benefit being that they “will still have access to open access search tools after they are no longer in college.” 32

Within that context, many researchers feel that the open access movement has been co-opted by commercial publishers and are advocating for a return to scholar-led publishing communities. Discussing the global limitations of corporate publishing, several authors urge libraries and consortia to support their research communities by avoiding bundled publishing service agreements, contributing to scholar-led initiatives, and redistributing funds to support the Global South. 33 In addition, there is growing understanding that open access does not necessarily mean universal accessibility. Multiple authors have shed light on the inequities within open access publishing, including design practices and publishing cost structures that are exclusionary; researchers recommend libraries focus on integrating accessibility practices into design 34 and support bibliodiversity to emphasize “the critical diversity of authors and scholarly works representing cultures, languages, genres and all kinds of scholarly and scientific endeavours.” 35

A series of new tools and proposals have recently been released to guide libraries and scholars as they work to support a values-driven publishing ecosystem. These guidelines call for systems that enable scholars to choose when their research is made public and decenter the journal article as the sole object of importance in the research lifecycle, 36 encourage libraries to align their publishing infrastructure and practices with key values and ethical frameworks, 37 and propose helping “new and established open access journals in navigating the rapidly changing landscape of open access publishing.” 38

Disrupting and Reconceiving Collection Practices

While there had been actions and initiatives relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in libraries before 2020, much of that effort consisted of broad advocacy and raising awareness. 39 Libraries are increasingly recognizing that making good on public statements will require firm resource commitments, disruption of existing systems, and sustained action in multiple arenas. 40 This work requires deep reflection and disruption: deconstructing systems for collecting and describing materials, deconstructing myths of librarian authority, and deconstructing student assumptions about information.

In recent years, libraries have begun putting more attention and action into re-evaluating library collections and collection management practices. Auditing collections through a social justice lens or to address colonialist and Euro-centric practices involves re-examining values, defining what “diversity” means in the context of collections, and setting tangible markers for progress. 41 In setting these parameters, it’s important to “embrace imperfection,” 42 which might include defining a more targeted goal or an initial starting point. 43 In each case, these efforts are leading to a re-examination of acquisition practices and systems, including approval plans and demand-driven acquisition programs, which may “amplify biases already present in the higher education and publishing industries.” 44

In addition to reallocating collection funds, libraries acting to make their collections more diverse and inclusive are reconsidering personnel commitments and involving more people in collection activities. Reversing earlier trends, some libraries are increasing staff time on collection development and cataloging, and they are partnering with underrepresented communities to select and describe materials. 45 This involves multiple points of outreach and consultation over the course of a project, and it requires libraries to embrace the complexities that their partners share about working with multiple communities. 46 Regardless of approach, libraries will need to consider how to sustain these improvements in collection building and management practices throughout changes in budgets, leadership, and staffing levels. 47

Politicization of Academic Libraries

The landscape of academic libraries continues to be significantly impacted and shaped by a highly political and polarizing climate. As academic libraries navigate this landscape, it becomes crucial for them to strike a balance between neutrality and civic engagement, acknowledging the inherent political dimensions of their collections, programs, and spaces. They must continue to maintain an active role in the enactment of democracy, despite ongoing and future threats.

Renowned scholar John Buschmann contends in several scholarly publications that libraries historically play an important role in the democratic fabric of society and navigate crises while persisting through terrorist acts, 48 politically charged environments, 49 and pandemics. 50 Even during extreme geopolitical crises like wars and international sanctions, libraries are implicated as active participants in affecting and responding to the complex sociopolitical environment they inhabit. 51 In trying to counter fake news rhetoric, libraries can unintentionally be drawn into political processes by simply providing research services and fighting misinformation and disinformation. 52 In one study, several land-grant university library websites were analyzed and found to indeed be “serving as significant providers of political information during politically turbulent times.” 53

Although censorship of library collections using “book bans” has primarily affected public libraries, academic libraries now find they too are being drawn into this heated dialogue, especially surrounding social justice, DEI, and antiracism initiatives. Zoë Abbie Teel contends that anti-DEI legislation may extend its impact to potentially influence library policies and acquisitions, including “the availability of certain materials’’ that may be seen as promoting DEI. 54 The question of whether libraries can remain “neutral” in the face of social injustice has created debate among library practitioners. 55 Steve Rosato discusses the role of academic librarians and publishers as “vanguards” of critical DEI content, 56 and Annis Lee Adams presents an array of antiracism resources to support library staff, emphasizing the active role libraries play in addressing racial issues. 57 Libraries can also amplify their antiracism resources by partnering with other campus stakeholders. 58 Two articles highlight the need for libraries to actively support inclusivity, with Qing H. Stellwagen and Steven Bingo emphasizing cultural celebrations as a means of creating a sense of community on campus 59 and Silvia Vong discussing the impact of racial capitalism on academic librarians and libraries, specifically focusing on issues of representation and equity within library staff. 60

Anti-DEI Legislation, Academic Freedom, and Unionization

In recent years, academic librarians and library staff have experienced the growing challenge of low morale and burnout. 61 Compounding this for many staff, a recent wave of anti-DEI legislation has been introduced and passed in many states. These laws impose restrictions on DEI offices, staff training, diversity statements, and “identity-based preferences for hiring and admissions,” with one state’s legislation compelling public colleges to designate “agents” to oversee “prohibitions on DEI spending.” 62 Some states have also severed ties with the American Library Association (ALA) 63 amid allegations that the association is constrained by its perspectives on gender ideology and a left-leaning bias. 64

The contentious atmosphere surrounding library associations and the uptick in book challenges, particularly against titles by or about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color or relating to DEI content, 65 have implications for academic libraries and academic freedom in particular. The Association of American University Professors emphasizes the significance of “academic freedom, tenure, and shared governance” in providing a foundation for faculty members. 66 Tenure is seen as a crucial safeguard against the censorship and book banning observed in school libraries, ensuring impartiality and protecting academic libraries. 67

Unions may also play a role in protecting academic freedom. Higher education has witnessed an increase in union activities, strikes, and labor activism recently. 68 The pandemic has played a role in sparking these efforts, with one author suggesting it “exacerbated existing issues and brought up new ones,” 69 and 2023–24 ALA President Emily Drabinski has recognized the role of unions in protecting library workers from extremist groups, censorship, and unsafe conditions. 70 Library unions provide guarantees for fair wages, 71 improved working conditions, 72 the preservation of academic freedom, 73 and protection against unilateral decision-making, such as institutional reorganization and reimagining library workers’ research and roles. 74 The recent increase in union activities reflects a growing recognition of the power of collective bargaining to address the multifaceted challenges facing academic libraries in the current sociopolitical climate.

Post-pandemic Workplace and Hybrid Work Environments

The pandemic triggered widespread soul-searching, leading librarians to re-evaluate their priorities and seek workplaces aligned with their values. Not immune from “The Great Reshuffle,” many library staff have considered leaving their positions due to pandemic stress and lack of intrinsic motivators like work-life balance and growth. In a recent survey of academic librarians, nearly half said they were thinking of leaving their job “about half the time or more.” 75 When they remain, they want to have a role in defining the future. In one study, librarians “repeatedly emphasized the need for working conditions going forward to be governed through collegiality and conversation, rather than defaulting to the pre-pandemic organizational norms.” 76 Andrea Falcone and Lyda Fontes McCartin suggest that libraries must adapt to this shift by prioritizing talent retention through improved compensation, workload management, and flexible work options. 77 At the same time, perceived inequities within libraries and universities can fuel dissatisfaction and burnout. 78 Academic librarians may also risk burnout due to the emotional labor inherent in their work: “Meeting the societal and user expectations of being a librarian requires simultaneously regulating or performing one’s own emotions and interpreting, managing, and responding to the emotions of users.” 79 Effective prevention requires emotional literacy and supportive leadership that acknowledges the emotional toll and promotes decompression strategies, especially for librarians of color who often bear the brunt of this burden. 80

In this new workplace environment, many libraries are embracing flexible work arrangements as one strategy for addressing dissatisfaction and burnout. “Many workers now perceive pre-pandemic work modalities and workplace expectations as unnecessary, unrealistic, and undesirable, and employers have taken notice of the shift in employee attitudes.” 81 In fact, recent surveys have shown that three-quarters of academic libraries now offer hybrid work environments with flexible work arrangements. These same studies note that remote work offers benefits like greater productivity and reduced stress while onsite work fosters better onboarding, engagement, and team building. As a result, even when flexible work arrangements are available, usage by staff varies widely, suggesting a diverse workforce with a range of preferences. 82 To foster trust, knowledge, empathy, and community in such a hybrid environment, institutions must acknowledge its complexities and invest in intentional efforts to rebuild a strong academic workplace culture. 83 This new hybrid environment may also require redesigning staff spaces and setting new priorities for onsite work. The physical office is predicted to transform into a space for building social connections, fostering learning, and sparking innovation, which will necessitate intentional leadership that prioritizes face-to-face interaction and facilitates collaboration within a redesigned office environment. 84

Makerspaces and Tech Spaces

Designed for innovative and creative experimentation, makerspaces are defined as “low- and high-tech communal learning environments where people can create, build, and invent with digital and fabrication tools.” 85 While makerspaces started mostly in engineering departments, libraries quickly adopted the idea to become leaders in innovation through technology. In fact, the library is now the most common place for a makerspace to live on an academic campus. 86 Makerspaces found in academic libraries tend to “focus on digital fabrication, using computerized software-driven equipment,” with 3D printers and laser cutters being “the most commonly described equipment in Makerspaces in the research literature.” 87

As libraries continue to assess their user needs, support for these spaces is increasingly important. However, maintaining a thriving makerspace does not come without challenges, which include proper staffing and financial support for costly technology. 88 Despite these challenges, librarians are collaborating more through their makerspaces to amplify student engagement in the library. While not every endeavor has been successful, initiatives like the 3D Selfie Booth 89 and Game Jam 90 showcase library staff’s creativity and highlight positive interactions with makerspace technology, leading authors to express interest in deeper collaboration.

By analyzing student learning styles against major typologies of learning, the effectiveness of the makerspace on student engagement becomes clear. Students using these spaces learn through creation and interaction—with a community, experts, and a real-world environment. In makerspaces, “students are engaging in both content and culture knowledge and skills along with communication, management, ingenuity, and self-awareness.” 91 Students who visit makerspaces on a regular basis are more inclined to continue their use over time, indicating that ongoing engagement is crucial for students to perceive the usefulness of the space. 92

Makerspaces enable students to build self-efficacy, explore their entrepreneurial spirit, 93 and learn skills that will last them long past their academic career. Evolving alongside patron needs, academic libraries are integrating makerspaces into their future vision, offering access to new technologies, collaborative opportunities, and platforms for exploring personal interests. 94

Supporting Student Well-being Post-pandemic

The changes to learning environments and increased social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic had a mental health impact on current and incoming college students including increased rates of depression and anxiety. 95 Academic libraries are adopting new strategies to address student mental health and well-being that go beyond scholarship to support for the whole student. 96 The “whole-university” approach is in use in some institutions with libraries serving as a vital part of an interconnected team of university offices working together to support student mental health. 97 These efforts align with trends focused on offering more personalized, socially centered service in libraries, 98 and they also relate to initiatives to support the evolving usage of library space. Students value the library as a social space and visit libraries as a way to overcome social isolation and find community. 99 For example, students in a recent focus group study noted using physical library spaces to socialize and de-stress 100 while librarians at Virginia Commonwealth University created a guide with audio and visual resources to help students re-create the library mood from home during the pandemic. 101 As another way to prioritize student wellness, libraries are adding leisure reading collections to support mindfulness, 102 and they are weaving mindfulness practices into information literacy instruction. 103 Academic librarians have also been looking inward, acknowledging the emotional work involved in supporting students and managing change through the pandemic. 104

The future holds many hurdles for academic librarians, such as the possible impacts of AI on higher education and the uncertainty of recurring operating and materials budgets. We are simultaneously thrilled by the new possibilities for hybrid teamwork and workspaces, the growing demand for diverse viewpoints, and the integration of innovative methods to provide access to our common resources. These challenges will require new policies and practices, but they will also enable us to innovate, adapt, and respond to complex and evolving phenomena in our common pursuit of supporting student achievement and enhancing teaching, learning, and academic research.

  • Andrew M. Cox and Suvodeep Mazumdar, “Defining Artificial Intelligence for Librarians,” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science , published ahead of print (December 22, 2022), https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006221142029 , p. 2.
  • Fiona Bradley, “Representation of Libraries in Artificial Intelligence Regulations and Implications for Ethics and Practice,” Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association 71, no. 3 (July 3, 2022): 189–200, https://doi.org/10.1080/24750158.2022.2101911 ; Mohammad Hosseini and Kristi Holmes, “The Evolution of Library Workplaces and Workflows via Generative AI,” College & Research Libraries 84, no. 6 (November 1, 2023): 836–42, https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.84.6.836 ; Aileen B. Houston and Edward M. Corrado, “Embracing ChatGPT: Implications of Emergent Language Models for Academia and Libraries,” Technical Services Quarterly 40, no. 2 (April 3, 2023): 76–91, https://doi.org/10.1080/07317131.2023.2187110 .
  • Matthew Hutson, “Could AI Help You to Write Your Next Paper?,” Nature 611, no. 7934 (October 31, 2022): 192–93, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-03479-w .
  • Lauren Coffey, “AI, the Next Chapter for College Librarians,” Inside Higher Ed , November 3, 2023, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/libraries/2023/11/03/ai-marks-next-chapter-college-librarians .
  • Duri Long and Brian Magerko, “What Is AI Literacy? Competencies and Design Considerations,” in Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ‘20: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Honolulu HI USA: ACM, 2020), 1–16, https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376727 , p. 2.
  • Leo S. Lo, “The CLEAR Path: A Framework for Enhancing Information Literacy through Prompt Engineering,” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 49, no. 4 (July 2023): 102720, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2023.102720 , p. 3.
  • Amanda Wheatley and Sandy Hervieux, “Separating Artificial Intelligence from Science Fiction: Creating an Academic Library Workshop Series on AI Literacy,” in The Rise of AI: Implications and Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Academic Libraries , ACRL Publications in Librarianship 78 (Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries, 2022), 61–70.
  • Jane Southworth, Kati Migliaccio, Joe Glover, Ja’Net Glover, David Reed, Christopher McCarty, Joel Brendemuhl, Aaron Thomas, “Developing a Model for AI Across the Curriculum: Transforming the Higher Education Landscape via Innovation in AI Literacy,” Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence 4 (2023): 100127, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2023.100127 .
  • Sandy Hervieux and Amanda Wheatley, eds., The Rise of AI: Implications and Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Academic Libraries , ACRL Publications in Librarianship 78 (Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries, 2022).
  • Bradley, “Representation of Libraries in Artificial Intelligence,” 196.
  • Mary Ann Cullen and Elizabeth Dill, eds., Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy (Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries, 2022).
  • Yolanda Bergstrom-Lynch, Mary Mahoney, and Joelle Thomas, “Empowering Students as OER Creators to Challenge Information Privilege,” in Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy , ed. Mary Ann Cullen and Elizabeth Dill (Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries, 2022), 237–64; Jolie A. L. Gareis, Erin I. Larson, Marcelo Ardón, John A. Berges, Jessica E. Brandt, Kaitlyn M. Busch, Victoria L. S. Chraibi, Elizabeth N. Gallagher, Kelly L. Hondula, Dustin W. Kincaid et al., “Using Wikipedia Assignments to Teach Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing in STEM Courses,” Frontiers in Education 7 (2022), https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.905777 ; Diana E. Park and Laurie M. Bridges, “Meet Students Where They Are: Centering Wikipedia in the Classroom,” Communications in Information Literacy 16, no. 1 (March 2022): 4–23, https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2022.16.1.2 ; Paul Anthony Thomas, Matthew Jones, and Spencer Mattingly, “Using Wikipedia to Teach Scholarly Peer Review: A Creative Approach to Open Pedagogy,” Journal of Information Literacy 15, no. 2 (August 6, 2021), https://doi.org/10.11645/15.2.2913 .
  • Teresa Schultz and Elena S. Azadbakht, “Exploring Open Pedagogy in a Librarian-Taught Honors Course,” Communications in Information Literacy 17, no. 1 (June 1, 2023): 221–37, https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2023.17.1.2 ; Torrey Trust, Robert W Maloy, and Sharon Edwards, “College Student Engagement in OER Design Projects: Impacts on Attitudes, Motivation, and Learning,” Active Learning in Higher Education 24, no. 3 (November 1, 2023): 353–71, https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874221081454 ; Peter Daniel Wallis, Jennifer Mae White, and Stephen T. Kerr, “High Structure Renewable Assignments: A Design Study,” Open Praxis 14, no. 1 (January 2022): 39–53, https://doi.org/10.55982/openpraxis.14.1.146 ; Lindsey Gumb, “OER-Enabled Pedagogy Meets Info Lit: Empowering the Next Generation of Open Scholars,” in Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy , ed. Mary Ann Cullen and Elizabeth Dill (Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries, 2022), 49–68.
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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, tracking the research trends in the library and information science: a case study of india.

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication

ISSN : 2514-9342

Article publication date: 14 June 2022

Issue publication date: 9 January 2024

The study aims to present an insight into the research landscape of Library and Information Science (LIS) by India using a bibliometric visualization tool. The study analyses the research growth and trends, highly cited articles, productive publication titles, institutional and country collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection for a period of 20 years and analysed through VOSviewer, a data visualization software.

The results indicate that the overall annual contributions are increasing, although with uneven and slow growth from 2001 to 2014. However, the highest contributions and impact is witnessed over the past few years. All the top 10 cited papers are related to the area of information processing and management. The visualization technique made it clear that the area of research has made a transition from traditional concepts of library and information to novel ones involving big data, machine learning, altmetrics, etc. Also, the Indian Institute of Technology System, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Indian Institute of Management System have made the highest contributions. Furthermore, India shares maximum collaborations with the USA, followed by England and China.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study would help readers to gain understanding about the contribution of India for the development of the LIS. It would also help researchers to identify the hotspots and left out areas of research in the Indian context that require further investigation, thus would help in policy decisions and future research. Furthermore, researchers will be sensitized about the network visualizations that can also help them to get connected with the peers. The study can also help the journals to recognize the trending topics, which will provide the researchers with the opportunities to work on the same. Funding agencies can also be benefitted by the findings of the current study as they will be informed about the research areas which need to be funded.

Originality/value

There are not many research studies that highlight the research trends in the area of LIS from India and visualize the collaboration among institutions and countries. The study tries to showcase the research trends and collaborative frameworks in the field of LIS in terms of network visualization.

  • Bibliometrics
  • Data visualization
  • Research output-India
  • Library and Information Science research
  • Network visualization
  • Scientometrics
  • Research trends

Acknowledgements

Conflict of interest: There is no potential conflict of interest in the research.

Gupta, S. and Gul, S. (2024), "Tracking the research trends in the library and information science: a case study of India", Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication , Vol. 73 No. 1/2, pp. 202-218. https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-11-2021-0184

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