Influence of Information Technology in Growth and Publication of Indian LIS Literature

Influence of Information Technology inGrowth and Publication of Indian

LIS LiteratureNEENA SINGH

G B Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Tehri Garhwal (Uttranchal), India

Information technology has brought a tremendous change inthe nature, boundaries and structure of information. The on-going movement towards an electronic information society ispushing libraries towards automation and digitization. Therevolution has brought impressive changes in the role of LISprofessionals who are now being viewed as information man-agers/facilitators. These developments have also influenced LISwritings and publishing. This study shows that while theapplication of IT has gained considerable importance in Indianlibraries, IT-based papers have surprisingly found less space inIndian LIS periodicals as compared to the LIS literature ingeneral. The findings of this study also indicate that there is an

uneven distribution of various topics within the Indian LIS IT-published literature; while some topics/areas of IT havereceived considerable attention others have been barelytouched. Topics like IT in general, bibliographic databases,library networking, library automation and electronic resour-ces have been found to predominate in the growth of Indian LISliterature as compared to the coverage of other areas of IT. Mostpapers (60 %) have single authors, indicating a low amount ofteamwork/collaborative writing. The paper’s analysis also revealsthat working professionals/librarians have made more con-tributions (48%) in comparison to teaching professionals (22%).

Introduction

In the twenty-first century, ‘IT’ (Information Tech-nology) has become the buzzword in India and hasspread it roots in almost all service sectors of thecountry, be it banking, marketing, finance oreducation. Libraries as important service centresin the field of education are no exception to this. Thelast decade is perhaps one of the most significantperiods in the history of library and informationsciences.

There has been a sea change in the functioning oflibraries, particularly in the way the information iscollected, organised and disseminated. Change inthe nature, boundaries and structure of informationand, change, from collection management to in-formation management and from ownership toproviding access, has brought a spectacular trans-formation in information processing and manage-ment. This revolution in libraries has also brought adramatic change in the role of library professionals;

as a result, they are now being viewed as informa-tion organisers, information managers, informationfacilitators, and so on.

The present information era has also broughtabout a radical alteration in the output of libraryand information science literature. The impact oftechnology in libraries has provided new avenuesfor research in modern areas, such as libraryautomation, database creation and management;in information storage and retrieval; in the impactof Internet on libraries; in the emergence ofelectronic or digital libraries; and in the making ofthe library resources for the entire world into asingle electronic global village. Professionals, par-ticularly those who are working in automatedlibraries and the IT environment, have been com-municating through their contributions and writ-ings in various journals not only about theirpractical experiences but also about the myriadproblems they encounter. It has been noted thatthere has been a substantial growth in IT-based

Neena Singh is Deputy Librarian at the G B Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, The Hill Campus, Ranichauri, TehriGarhwal 249199 (Uttranchal), India. E-mail: nshill6@gmail.com

Copyright Saur 2009

LibriISSN 0024-2267

DOI: 10.1515/libr.2009.006 55

literature in the field of library science as morearticles and research papers on related topics arefinding their places in Library and InformationScience (LIS) periodicals.

The trend is quite evident from the fact that in thepresent era quite a number of periodicals haveshifted their titles from traditional librarianship toemphasise information, viz. , Annals of LibraryScience and Documentation to Annals of LibraryScience and Information Studies published fromIndian National Scientific Documentation Center(INSDOC), now National Institute of Science Com-munication and information Resources (NISCAIR),Library Science with a Slant to Documentation toSharda Ranganathan Endowment for Library Sci-ences (SRELS) Journal of Information Managementbrought out by the Ranganathan Endowment forLibrary Science. Other journals – for example, theDefence Scientific Documentation Centre (DESI-DOC) Bulletin of Information Technology, from DESI-DOC, International Information Communication andEducation sponsored by Prof P.N. Kaula Endow-ment for Library and Information Science, Informa-tion Today and Tomorrow from National InformationSystem for Scientific Information (NISSAT), IndianSociety for Information Science (ISIS) Bulletin fromBangalore – are a few instances which publishexclusively reports of recent developments inInformation Technology as its applies to LIS.

Statement of the problem andsignificance of the study

This study has been taken with a view to analyse thereflection of IT in the writing and publishing ofworks exclusively by library professionals and thegrowth of the literature in LIS with slant towards IT.

The growth of published literature plays a vitalrole in the development of any discipline or subjectfield. With the spread of IT, there has been adramatic revolution in the activities of the librariesand the role of library professionals. These develop-ments have also brought striking changes in theoutput of LIS literature, notably a substantialgrowth in IT-based LIS literature. The presentstudy has therefore, been undertaken with a viewto analysing the reflection of IT in the writings andpublishing of works by library professionals, par-ticularly in the journal literature.

While studies have been conducted on thepattern of literature growth and publishing output

in the field of IT in relation to library and informa-tion science in India, the present study is perhapsthe first attempt to make a comprehensive review ofthis phenomenon. The study is significant inevaluating these developments and trends and inidentifying those areas receiving more or lessattention by the LIS professionals. The findings ofthe present research will be of interest to many LISprofessionals as they demonstrate the influence ofIT upon LIS, as well as the trends in coverage of LISwriting and research in this area.

Hypotheses

The hypothesis, though a provisional idea, becomesthe basis for fruitful investigation in social researchof any magnitude. The investigator, therefore, forthe purpose of the present study has formulated thefollowing hypotheses to test in the study:

• There has been a marked increase in the growth and outputof literature in LIS with a slant towards IT in LIS.

• The publication output of articles about traditional librarian-ship has decreased considerably as IT-based papers andresearch articles are consuming more space in LIS journals;

• The share of LIS articles slanted towards IT is not only higherbut also predominates as compared to the contributions intraditional areas of librarianship in LIS journals; and

• Contributions of IT-based articles by practising librarians/professionals are greater in number as compared to those byLIS teachers in various library schools as the librariansworking in computerised libraries and the IT environmentoften communicate both their pragmatic experience and theconstraints on specific jobs through their writings.

• Authorship of IT-based articles is single-author based andcollaborative contribution to LIS writing is not so popular.

• The coverage of LIS periodicals by indexing services islacking and insufficient.

Literature reviewed

The literature review revealed that only a fewstudies seem to have been undertaken by research-ers at various points in time, none of the previousstudies has addressed the pattern of literaturegrowth and publishing output exclusively in thefield of IT in relation to library and informationscience in India. Those previous studies deservingmention are discussed here.

A study conducted by Prasher and Rai (1988) onthe growth of LIS literature in Indian periodicalsfrom 1976 –1986 showed that there is an unevendistribution of published literature. Their study

Neena Singh

showed that topics like public libraries, libraryeducation, documentation, computer application ininformation retrieval and library associations re-ceived considerable attention, while topics such asschool libraries, use of books, library buildings andreading media had been poorly represented. Thestudy also asserted that working professionals hadcompeted well with the library science teachers inthe generation of LIS literature.

Another study made by Musib (1986) on thenature and pattern of growth of library andinformation science journals during the last 150years indicated that 41.43 % of the known total ofLIS journals in the world were published in theU.S.A. The study found that while the U.S.A.ranked first in the world’s known LIS output, itwas followed by the UK (9.13 %), Canada (4.42 %)and India, which issued only 4 % of the total LISjournals in the world. However, this study did notconsider the growth of IT-based literature contrib-uted to such LIS periodicals.

A study conducted by Devarajan (1999) revealsthat journals articles constituted the major portionof publications in the field of LIS literature. Hisstudy showed that the greatest number of ITstudiesin LIS periodicals were published in English, 88.8%of the total output. The growth of IT studies in LISperiodicals was relatively less during 1960 s and1970 s but increased during the 1980 s and 1990 s,and since then, it has been growing at a rapid rate.His study further revealed that most contributionswere by single authors (63.29%), while contribu-tions by joint authors constituted 22.86 % of the totaland those by three and more authors were only11.05 %. The contribution of Indian authors how-ever was only 4.30 %. Looking at the geographicdistribution of publications on IT, the U.S. was thesecond after the UK, and India achieved tenthposition. In the core periodicals list of LIS publica-tions of IT literature, Computers in Libraries wasseventh, Library Hi-Tech ninth, and Library Trendstenth among American LIS journals. Among theIndian LIS periodicals, IASLIC Bulletin rankedninth.

Another study, by Dash (2000), showed that as ITis implemented in almost all spheres of human life,it results in an information explosion leading togrowth in the published literature. A study con-ducted by Verma (2001) analysed ten years (1989 –2000) of contributions to the Library Herald. Thisstudy revealed that the total number of articles on

‘computer application in libraries’, constituted9.66 % of the total contributions made to the ITliterature during those ten years. During the lastdecade of contributions to the Library Herald, thenumber of citations to the IASLIC Bulletin was only10 (1.71%), followed by ILA Bulletin cited 6 times(1.03%) out of the total number of citations in allarticles studied.

A study conducted by Barik (2001) reveals thatAmerican LIS journals contributed 40.74 % of the IT-based articles in 1999, which was surprisinglyreduced to 37.03% in the year 2000. Out of thethree US-based journals studied, Library Trendscontributed the lowest percentage, 26 IT-relatedarticles out of a total of 81 articles. Articles onInternet and e-resources predominated in U.S.-based journals compared to Indian journals. Thestudy further reveals that, among the Indianjournals, Annals of Library Science and InformationStudies contributed the largest number of IT-relatedarticles (31.25%) in 1999 compared to other LISjournals.

A study conducted by Singh and Panda (2002) onthe growth of LIS literature in the Indian LibraryAssociation’s ILA Bulletin 1995– 2001 revealed anuneven distribution among various LIS topics.While some topics had received considerable atten-tion, others had been barely touched. For instance,the popular topics addressed by professionalsincluded LIS education, citation indexing, libraryautomation, database management, and humanresources development. Contemporary topics likecataloguing, classification, research in LIS, bookand press registration act, information policy,marketing library resources, barcoding have justbeen touched Although the IT revolution hadassumed considerable importance in libraries, IT-based papers (22, or 33%) had commanded sur-prisingly less space in the ILA Bulletin as comparedto non-IT-based LIS articles (45, or 67%). The mostpopular topics in the field of IT had been libraryautomation, database management, networking,and electronic storage media, like CDROMs. Thesetopics seemed to be predominant in the growth ofLIS literature compared to the literature of otherdisciplines.

Another study, conducted by Kaur (2002), abibliometric study of the ILA Bulletin 1996–2002,indicates that 14 (20 %) papers in LIS were slantedtowards ITand there were 57 (80 %) contributions ofnon-IT LIS literature. The study further indicated

Influence of Information Technology in Growth and Publication of Indian LIS Literature

that librarianship was the most popular area (18 or25%) of contributions in the non-IT category,followed by IT applications in libraries with 10(14 %) papers and library networking with 4 (6 %)papers. The author asserted that the journal hadstarted attracting contributions on IT-related topics,and these came just after librarianship in order ofpopularity of the various field of writing.

Singh and Panda (2003) studied the growth of LISliterature in 1999–2000 in two major Indian LISjournals (ILA Bulletin and IASLIC Bulletin) issued bythe two major library associations of India. Theirstudy revealed that 37 (27.45 %) papers were IT-based articles and the major share of the contribu-tions, 98 (72.59%) papers, were non-IT-based.IASLIC Bulletin published more IT-related paperswith 25 (27.18 %) in comparison to only 12 (27.91 %)in ILA Bulletin. The most popular areas werenetworking systems, library automation, biblio-graphical databases and CDROMs. The studyfurther revealed that although there had been amarked increased in the growth of and output ofliterature in LIS with a slant towards IT, during lastfive years, non-IT-based LIS papers still occupiedmore space in both ILA Bulletin and IASLIC Bulletin.

These studies appear to have been conducted ona very limited scale, taking into consideration only afew aspects and areas of growth in IT-basedliterature, only to satisfy the objective of particularresearch. Thus the present study’s more compre-hensive approach is imperative.

Aims and objectives of the study

This investigation had the following objectives:

• To determine the state of the publishing output in the form ofresearch papers and articles in various Indian LIS journalsduring the five-year period (1997– 2001);

• To evaluate the pattern of literature growth in IT-relatedtopics with reference to various areas/disciplines/subjects oflibrary and information science;

• To evaluate the publication output of basic research in LIS,i. e. traditional librarianship and the growing influence of ITupon the LIS literature published in LIS periodicals;

• To examine the trends in publication of literature in variousareas of library and information science (subject-wise) withspecial reference to IT.

• To determine the geographic distribution of the authors whohave made contributions to the LIS literature/journals in thefield of IT and its associated concepts.

• To examine the proportion of contributions made by work-ing /practicing library professionals and teaching professio-nals.

• To evaluate the coverage of the major LIS periodicals in thisstudy by various indexing services.

Methodology

To gather the data for the present investigation, asurvey of the literature was coupled with libraryresearch methods to achieve the survey objectives.The collection of data on LIS IT-based publicationoutput (i. e. , journals and research papers) wasaccomplished by searching well-known referencetools such as Ulrich’s International Periodical Direc-tory and Indian Periodical Directory to identify the LISperiodicals published in India. Out of the total list ofperiodicals, 18 well-known major periodicals wereselected, based on parameters such as their pub-lication during the period to be studied (1997 –2001), edition, credibility, coverage, and scope.‘Major journals’refers to journals which are pub-lished by well-known organizations and associa-tions and which were published in the periodcovered by the study. These methodologies wereenhanced by personal visits to various informationresource centres and large library systems includ-ing browsing relevant websites to supplementinformation useful to present research. The purposeof the visits was to collect the content of the journalsnot available to the author in the libraries ususuallyused.

After the selection, these major periodicals in LISwere analysed, using the descriptions on theircontent pages and keywords chosen from eachcontribution. This selection of additional keywords,i. e. words not in the title, was done because the titlesof journal articles are not always fully indicative ofcontent. Then the journals were classified andtabulated for analysis in accordance with the surveyobjectives.

Scope and limitations of the study

Access to data and timely completion are the twovital factors for the success and accomplishment ofthe objectives of any investigation. Hence, in con-sideration of the vast range of literature from everygeographical region, and the limited time availableto complete the research, the present study adheredto the following limitations:

Neena Singh

1. The study includes in its scope only the mode of growth andpublishing output of literature in the field of IT withexclusive reference to LIS, but not the IT literature in general(i. e. limitation by scope to IT as subject being investigated);

2. The study includes the literature on ITexclusively publishedin various major LIS journals published in India only, butnot any other form of document and/or from any othercountry or region (i. e. limitation of form of document andcountry being investigated);

3. The study’s scope is only those publications by Indianauthors, and not the contributions to Indian serial publica-tions made by overseas authors (i. e. limitation by country oforigin of the authors responsible for such growth in ITliterature);

4. The study includes only those publications contributed byauthors exclusively in the LIS profession such as LISteachers, practising librarians, information scientists, etc.(i. e. limitation by the type of contributors being studied);

5. It considers those publications primarily slanted andrelevant to library and information activities and services,but not the publications of highly technical content beyondthe areas of knowledge of LIS professionals (i. e. limitationby type of content);

6. It includes in its scope only those LIS journals, primarilyavailable in major libraries and information centres in Indiabut not the publications available only in the lesser librariesand information centres of India (i. e. limitation by theavailability of published output taken as sample for survey);and

7. It covers only the literature on IT published 1997–2001 (i. e.limitation by period). This was done to have a sample ofmanageable size.

Although the selection method used in this studymay reduce the study’s scientific validity, thefindings are nevertheless suggestive of trendswhich are important for the library profession tounderstand. A future study could use a scientifi-cally selected sample to analyze further the trendsrevealed here.

Sample size

Size of the sample is key for timely completion ofany social investigation. The present investigation,therefore, has been carried out limiting the size of itssamples as indicated above.

Analysis and interpretation

Analysis, as far as practicable, in this study is mademore depletive with the hope that it can serve multi-dimensional interests of its readers. Keeping thestructural arrangement of data in view it has beenanalysed as follows.

Distribution of IT- & Non-IT-based

Papers in the literature

In order to ascertain the ratio of general and IT-based literature contributed to major LIS period-icals published in India, the contents pages of theeighteen relevant Indian LIS journals included inthe study were scanned and duly classified. Theresult of the groupings into General and IT-basedpapers is shown in Table 1.

Table 1 shows the distribution of 505 (40.08%) IT-based papers and 755 (59.92 %) non- IT-basedpapers, or writings on traditional librarianship,out of 1260 articles contributed to the 18 periodicalsduring the period of study. The number of paperspublished in each of the 18 journals ranged from 23to 141, averaging 70 papers per journal. In thesejournals, IT-based papers range from 9 to 60,averaging 29 papers per journal. Similarly non-IT-based papers range from 7 to 102, averaging 42papers per journal. It also clearly indicates that non-IT-based papers appear more in LIS periodicals ascompared to IT-based papers.

Some journals published more IT-related papersthan others; for example DESIDOC Bulletin ofInformation Technology, Library Herald, SRELSJournal of Information Management, InformationStudies and IASLIC Bulletin have published 60, 40,39, 38, and 35 IT-based papers respectively. Collec-tively these five journals accounted for 42 % of allthe IT papers published. This is perhaps due to thefact that some of these journals, as their titles imply,may accommodate more ITarticles in line with theireditorial policy and stated areas of interest.

Growth of IT literature year wise

In order to ascertain the growth of IT literature byyear, the data has been grouped and analysed byyear and is presented in Table 2.

A close perusal of Table 2 reveals that, thenumber of IT-based LIS papers fluctuated duringthe years studied. It shows that there was growth inIT-based literature between 1997 and 1998. The year1999, however, saw a slight decrease and againthere was a rise in the years 2000 and 2001. The year2001 saw the highest number of IT-based articlespublished (108).

It is observable that, although this tends tosupport previous studies in pointing to an increasein the growth of LIS literature with a slant towardsIT, non-IT-based LIS basic papers are still occupyingmore space in various LIS periodicals in India,indicating that the contributors are still devotingefforts to the basic and fundamental aspects oflibrary and information science. After all, IT isapplied to facilitate the services (as is happening inother service sectors, be it airlines or banking) andshould not overshadow the basis of the library andinformation service.

Subject analysis of IT-based LIS literature

To ascertain the subject area growth of IT-based LISliterature, all the contents pages of the journals werescanned and grouped under smaller subject head-ings confined to the broader subject of informationtechnology (IT). For the purpose of assigning

subject/concept and the convenience of tabulation,the investigator has taken into account the majorkeywords of the articles published in the journals.

Though IT application in libraries has no limi-tation, the analysis of different areas of IT in thisstudy was thus limited to 26 subfields within thebroader spectrum of IT. Table 3 shows the share ofIT-based publications related to the subfields in the18 LIS periodicals under study, after classificationand grouping for analysis and interpretation.

The data presented in Table 3 shows the subjectdistribution of articles in the various LIS periodicalsin the sample. Out of the 26 subfields, 68 articles(13 %) were published in the subfield of IT ingeneral, followed by 35 (7 %) papers each in biblio-graphical database development and library net-working, 31(6%) papers on Internet/Intranet tech-nology, 30 (6 %) papers on library automation, 24(5 %) papers each on the digital library and librarysoftware technology. These subfields of IT were themost popular areas of writing, perhaps because

Table 1. Ratio of IT- and Non-IT- based Papers

No. Name of Journal IT-Basedpapers

Non-IT- based papers Total IT& Non IT based

Papers

No % No % No %1 Annals of Library & Information Studies 28 5.55 63 8.34 91 7.222 CLIS Observer 9 1.78 33 4.37 42 3.333 DESIDOC Bulletin of Information

Technology60 11.88 21 2.78 81 6.43

4 Herald of Library Science 17 3.37 93 12.32 110 8.735 IASLIC Bulletin 35 6.93 60 7.95 95 7.546 Information Studies 38 7.53 22 2.92 60 4.767 International Information Communication &

Education24 4.75 34 4.50 58 4.60

8 Indian Journal of Library & InformationSociety(IJLIS)

30 5.94 61 8.08 91 7.22

9 ILA Bulletin 17 3.37 49 6.49 66 5.2410 Information Today & Tomorrow 31 6.14 23 3.05 54 4.2911 International Library Movement 22 4.35 30 3.97 52 4.1312 Journal of Information Science 33 6.54 20 2.65 53 4.2113 Journal of Library & Information Science 27 5.35 45 5.96 72 5.7114 Library Herald 40 7.92 46 6.09 86 6.8315 Library Progress International 22 4.35 25 3.31 47 3.7316 Lucknow Librarian 16 3.16 7 0.93 23 1.8317 SRELS Journal of Information Management 39 7.72 102 13.51 141 11.1918 Vidyasagar University Journal of Library

Sciences17 3.37 21 2.78 38 3.02

Total 505 100 755 100 100 1260

Neena Singh

these are the basic activities initiated in the modernlibraries.

Information system management was covered in22 papers and Optical Technology/CDROMs/DVDsin 18. Similarly 17 papers were published onmultimedia, and 16 each on resource sharing in anetwork environment and human resources devel-opment in IT. Areas like computerized classifica-tion, electronic publications and information re-trieval systems had 15 papers each and there were14 papers on information resources on the Internet,which is no doubt an encouraging sign.

Interestingly, a few articles have appeared ontopics like barcode technology, electronic mail,expert systems, search engines and wide areanetworking, with all these areas constituting lessthan 2 % of the total output. Further investigation is,therefore, required to find out the possible reasonsfor so few articles being published on these aspectsof IT by the authors.

Pattern of authorship/contributors

LIS research can be analysed as both collaborative-or individual-based research. In order to ascertainthe authorship pattern in this LIS literature, the datawere grouped under three broad categories asdepicted under Table 4.

Table 4 indicates that, on an average, out of 1260papers, only 505 (40 %) on different aspects of IThave been contributed by various authors in 18major LIS periodicals published in India. The tabledemonstrates that contributions by single authors(305) ranked first in the total published in the 18major LIS periodicals under study. 153 articles hadbeen contributed by two authors and rank second;and the remaining 47 papers were authored bymore than two authors. In relation to individualperiodicals, it is found that the DESIDOC Bulletinof Information Technology (published from DESI-DOC) carried the greatest number (38) of contri-butions by single authors, followed by Information

Table 2. Growth of IT Literature by Year

No. Name of Journal 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Total

1 Annals of Library & InformationStudies

6 4 8 6 4 28

2 CLIS Observer 1 2 0 2 4 93 DESIDOC Bulletin of Information

Technology18 8 14 11 9 60

4 Herald of Library Science 1 4 3 5 4 175 IASLIC Bulletin 5 8 7 6 9 356 Information Studies 3 10 5 11 9 387 International Information

Communication & Education5 3 6 6 4 24

8 Indian Journal of Library & InformationSociety (IJLIS)

0 11 4 3 12 30

9 ILA Bulletin 6 3 3 1 4 1710 Information Today & Tomorrow 9 6 4 7 5 3111 International Library Movement 5 4 6 4 3 2212 Journal of Information Science 2 11 10 7 3 3313 Journal of Library Information Science 5 4 4 9 5 2714 Library Herald 5 6 11 9 9 4015 Library Progress International 2 4 3 6 7 2216 Lucknow Librarian 12 4 - - - 1617 SRELS Journal of Information

Management9 9 7 - 14 39

18 Vidyasagar University Journal ofLibrary Sciences

5 4 1 4 3 17

TotalPercentage (%)

9919.61

10520.79

9619.00

9719.21

10821.39

505100

–Wor

Neena Singh

Studies (26) and SRELS Journal of InformationManagement (24).

It is interesting to note that team spirit orcollaborative contribution to LIS writing was notso evident among the Indian LIS authors and theremay be a strong case for motivation for collabo-rative research. However, if contributions made bytwo and more than two authors are taken intoaccount together, there was a total of 200 jointcontributions, which constituted 40% of the totaloutput. Since most of the papers in LIS are lessscientific and less likely to involve team efforts in alaboratory, LIS authors are more individualistic andindependent in their contributions, basing theirwork on their own experiences.

Contributions according to thenature of professional work

To find out which type of contributors among thedifferent job positions in different areas of theprofession has made most contributions to the LISliterature, the data has been grouped under fivebroad categories. These fall within the broad

spectrum of the LIS profession: working librarians,teaching professionals, working scientists and ei-ther of the two (i. e. , in both the positions). Theseresults are presented in Table 5.

The figures in Table 5 clearly indicate that work-ing librarians/professionals contributed the greatestnumber (243 or 48%) of IT-based articles. They werefollowed by teaching professionals with 113 (22 %of the total). Research officers or scientists workingin organizations like the Council for Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR), the Defence ResearchDevelopment Organization (DRDO), and theBhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) have alsobeen quite instrumental in contributing to LISliterature with 61 papers (12 %). Team work/jointcontributions by librarians and teaching professio-nals and vice versa produced only 66 (13.07 %)contributions compared to individual contribu-tions. Similarly, the team of librarians and scientistsjointly contributed only 22 (4.36 %) IT-based papersto these LIS periodicals.

An obvious reason for higher contributions byworking librarians is that practicing librariansoutnumber LIS teachers. Also the librarians work-ing in computerized libraries and the IT environ-

Table 4. Distribution of IT-based Papers According to Contributors

No. Name of Journal SingleAuthor

2 AuthorsNo. %

3 AuthorsNo. %

TotalNo. %

1. Annals of Library & Info. Studies 12 3.93 10 6.54 6 12.77 28 5.542. CLIS Observer 7 2.29 2 1.31 0 0.00 09 1.783. DESIDOC Bulletin of Information

Technology38 12.46 16 10.46 6 12.77 60 11.88

4. Herald of Library Science. 11 3.61 5 3.27 1 2.13 17 3.775. IASLIC Bulletin 17 5.57 15 9.80 3 6.38 35 6.936. Information Studies 26 8.53 9 5.88 3 6.38 38 7.537. Inf. Communication Education 19 6.23 5 3.27 0 0.00 24 4.758. IJLIS 16 5.25 11 7.19 3 6.38 30 5.919. ILA Bulletin 8 2.62 5 3.27 4 8.51 17 3.37

10. Information Today & Tomorrow 20 6.55 9 5.88 2 4.25 31 6.1411. Int. Lib. Movement 15 4.92 4 2.61 3 6.38 22 4.3612. J of Information Science 19 6.23 10 6.54 4 8.51 33 6.5313. J. of Library Information science 19 7.34 5 3.27 3 6.38 27 5.3514. Library Herald 23 7.54 14 9.15 3 6.38 40 7.9215. Lib progress Inter. 11 3.61 10 6.54 1 2.13 22 4.3516. Lucknow Librarian 9 3.47 6 3.92 1 2.13 16 3.1717. SRELS J. of Inf. Management 24 7.87 12 7.84 3 6.38 39 7.7218. VSUJ Lib & Info. Sc 11 3.61 5 3.26 1 2.13 17 3.37

Total 305 100 153 100 47 100 505 100% 60.39 % 30.30 % 9.31 %

ment often communicate pragmatic experiencesand constraints on specific activities through theirwritings.

Distribution of periodicals bycoverage of indexing periodicals

Table 6 presents the sample periodicals coverage bydifferent indexing services. Some of the notableindexing services that cover Indian LIS periodicalsare: LISA, originally published in the UK; IndianLibrary Science Abstracts (ILSA); Library Literature;Guide to Indian Periodicals Literature (GIPL); CurrentContents (CC); and Information Science Abstracts.

It can be observed from the Table that the Journalof Library and Information Science published by theDepartment of Library and Information Science,University of Delhi, is covered by the highestnumber (5) of these indexing services, followed by

the Herald of Library Science, International InformationCommunication and Education, and ILA Bulletinincluded in four indexing services each.

The Table further reveals that six periodicals–Annals of Library and Information Studies and CLISObserver, both published from New Delhi; IASLICBulletin, (West Bengal); Library Herald published byDelhi Library Association (UP); Library ProgressInternational ; and Lucknow Librarian – are coveredby three indexes.

Out of the 18 major LIS periodicals covered in thepresent study, fifteen (83 %) periodicals are underthe bibliographical control by indexing, the remain-ing three periodicals (Information Today and Tomor-row, Vidyasagar University Journal of Library Sciencespublished from Department of LIS, VidyasagarUniversity, West Bengal and Journal of InformationScience published by Chandigarh) are yet to becovered by any indexes.

Table 5. Contribution According to Professionals Working in Various Areas of the Profession

Name of Journals Workingprofessionals

Teachingprofessionals

Working &teaching

professionals

Workingscientists

Workingprofessionals &

scientists

1 Annals of Library AndInformation Studies

12 5 4 6 1 28

2 CLIS Observer 6 2 1 - - 93 DESIDOC Bulletin of

Information Technology20 14 2 19 5 60

4 Herald of Library Science 9 4 2 1 1 175 IASLIC Bulletin 18 11 2 3 1 356 Information Studies 13 10 5 7 3 387 International Inforomation

Communication & Education.12 4 5 3 - 24

8 Indian Journal of Library & Info.Society (IJLIS)

20 5 4 - 1 30

9 ILA Bulletin 9 4 3 - 1 1710 Info. Today &Tomorrow 11 2 - 15 3 3111 International. Lib. Movement. 12 5 4 1 - 2212 Journal of Info. Sc. 14 7 9 1 2 3313 Journal of Library & Info. Sc. 14 8 5 - - 2714 Library Herald 22 10 7 1 - 4015 Library Progress International 12 5 3 1 1 2216 Lucknow Librarian 11 3 2 - - 1617 SRELS Journal of Information

Management.20 8 5 3 3 39

8 6 3 - - 17

Total 243 113 66 61 22 505Percentage (%) 48.12 % 22.37 % 13.07 % 12.08 % 4.36 % 100

Neena Singh

Testing of hypotheses and suggestions

Science does not acknowledge the findings of anystudy as knowledge until a satisfactory test of theirvalidity has been completed. Thus, in order toensure a scientific and systematic investigation,three major hypotheses, formulated at the initialstage of this study, were tested. The results of thetests determine the validity and relevance of thepropositions that guided the present study. Fromtesting the hypotheses, we can draw a number offruitful inferences.

First, the study indicates that although there hasbeen an increase in the growth of LIS literature witha slant towards IT during last five years, it is notvery significant. IT-based papers have found lessspace in LIS periodicals (40.08 %) compared to non-IT based papers (59.92 %). Hence, the hypothesisthat there has been a marked increase in the growth

and output of LIS literature with a slant towards ITduring last five years is proved unsound.

Further investigation is, therefore, required tofind out the possible reasons why only 40% of thespace is given to IT-based articles; possible reasonsinclude lack of interest among LIS professionals inIT-based services and lack of motivation or training.Updating the LIS curriculum by incorporatingmore IT-oriented topics would encourage futureprofessionals to put their expert opinions andpractical experiences in writings and publishing.

The hypothesis that the share of articles in LISjournals slanted towards IT is higher and predom-inant in the total output compared to the contribu-tions on traditional areas of librarianship in LISjournals is also not true, as the study indicates that,non-IT based papers are still finding more space inLIS periodicals compared to IT- based.

The hypothesis that IT-based articles by workingpracticing professionals are greater in number (243)

Table 6: Distribution of Periodicals by their Coverage in Indexing Periodicals

No. Name of Periodical Coverage by Indexing Periodicals Total %

1 Annals of Library & Info Studies Indian Lib. Sci. Abstracts; Library Literature; LISA 3 7.52 CLIS Observer Indian Lib. Sci. Abstracts; Library Literature; LISA 3 7.53 DESIDOC Bulletin of Information

TechnologyLISA 1 2.5

4 Herald of Library Science Guide to Indian Periodical Literature; LISA; Indian Lib. Sci.Abstracts; Library Literature

5 IASLIC Bulletin Indian Lib. Sci. Abstract; Library Literature; LISA 3 7.56 Information Studies LISA 1 2.57 International Information

Communication & Edu.Current Contents; Information Science Abstracts; LISA; LibraryLiterature

8 Indian Journal of Library Info. andSociety (IJLIS)

LISA 1 2.5

9 ILA Bulletin Guide to Indian Periodical Literature; LISA; Indian Lib. Sci.Abstracst; Library Literature

10 Information Today & Tomorrow - - -11 International Library Movement LISA 1 2.512 Journal of Info. Sciences - - -13 Journal of Library and Information

ScienceCurrent Contents; LISA; Library literature; PAIS 5 12.5

14 Library Herald Guide to Indian Periodical Literature; LISA; Library Literature 3 7.515 Lucknow Librarian Indian Lib. Sic. Abstracts; LISA; Library Literature 3 7.516 Library Progress International Guide to Indian Periodical Literature; Indian Library Science

Abstracts; LISA3 7.5

17 SEREL Journal of InformationManagement

LISA 1 2.5

Total 40 100

compared to articles by teaching professionals ofvarious library schools (113) is true. In other wordspracticing professionals working in automatedlibraries and the IT environment often communi-cate their pragmatic experiences and constraints onspecific jobs to various journals through theirwritings. The reason for the bigger proportion ofpractitioners compared to teaching professionalscould be the simple fact that the population ofpractitioners is far bigger than the population ofteaching professionals. In order to have a blend oftheory and practice in the LIS literature, practition-ers, teachers and working scientists should beencouraged to work in teams and to take up someIT-oriented projects on automation or digitizationof libraries. This will help to yield more refined andwell-drafted papers, perhaps on more highly com-plex issues.

The study indicates that contributions made bysingle authors are the majority (305 or 60.39%) overthose by two authors (153 or 30.30 %) and three ormore authors (47 or 9.31 %). Hence the hypothesisthat authorship of IT-based articles is more indi-vidualistic and that collaborative contributions toLIS writing is not as popular has been supported.

In order to encourage teamwork in LIS writing, itwould be worthwhile if librarians and teachers ofLIS departments in various universities were invit-ed to write on emerging topics of IT or to share theirpractical experiences in the application of IT toinformation management. Institutes like DESI-DOC, INSDOC (now NISCAIR) and NASSDOCcould come forward to take a need-based approachto LIS research on the application of IT, suggestingways for improving the existing LIS services in thecountry.

The study indicates that of the 18 LIS periodicalscovered under the present study, 15 periodicals areunder bibliographical control through indexing,which is fairly good. The hypothesis that indexingof Indian LIS journals is lacking has been proveduntrue. This suggests that information on contentsof major Indian LIS journals is available worldwidewhich is quite encouraging.

Four of the six hypotheses formulated to guidethe investigation have failed and the remaining twoare true. The study shows that there is an unevendistribution of IT-based literature in LIS, as pub-lished in different journals on various areas of ITapplications. While some topics have receivedconsiderable attention, others have just been

touched. Therefore, there is a need for professionalbodies like library associations at both the state andnational levels to document effectively the LISliterature and ongoing research in the country andto promote research in emerging areas of IT. It isfurther suggested that a consortium of the major 18LIS journals in India can be created for sharing ofopinions on editorial policies and new publishingtechniques such as CRC, e-publishing, and e-journals. Such a group may check duplication ofarticles and piracy, thereby cautioning authors tocontribute more original ideas instead of merelyresorting to the cut-and-paste method.

Conclusion

The present study attempted to find out the impactof IT upon the growth of LIS literature published inmajor Indian Periodicals. It is not only interesting,but it is a worthy experience and tantalising too.There has not been any substantial increase ingrowth and output of LIS literature with slant to IT;interestingly, non-IT-based papers and researcharticles are still consuming more space in LISperiodicals in India. The obvious reason for such alow number of IT-based articles is the smallernumber of LIS professionals involved in automa-tion and IT-based services in their respectivelibraries. Besides these reasons, automation orcomputerization in most Indian libraries today isin developing state.

The study further reveals that areas like IT ingeneral, bibliographic databases, library network-ing, Internet/Intranet technology, library automa-tion, electronic resources, and the digital library arethe most popular areas of writing by LIS profes-sionals and seem to be predominant in the growthof LIS Literature. Since most of the papers in LIS arepragmatic and not prone to dependence on avail-ability of a scientific laboratory or scientific experi-ments, LIS authors are becoming more and moreindividualistic in their contributions. Teamwork orjoint contributions received a low profile.

Access to data and timely completion are im-portant for accomplishment of any investigation.This study encountered constraints, including poorresponse from library professionals to the requestmade for information from their libraries. Also latepublication of some journals, like Lucknow Librarian,was a further problem. RILSR Bulletin could not beincluded as a result. Researchers interested to carry

Neena Singh

further investigation will have to adopt appropriatemeasures to overcome these constraints.

ReferencesBarik, R.K. 2001. Growth of Literature on Information Tech-

nology in LIS Periodicals: A Comparative Study of Amer-ican and Indian Periodicals. Master’s thesis, SambalpurUniversity.

Dash, S.S. 2000. Information Technology and its Application.Yojana 44 (January): 11–14.

Devarajan, G. 1999. Information Technology in Libraries. NewDelhi: Ess Ess.

Kaur, Amritpal. 2002. ILA Bulletin 1996 –2000: A BibliometricStudy. ILA Bulletin 38 (December): 126 –134.

Musib, S. K. 1986. Periodicals on Library and InformationScience: Nature and Growth Pattern. IASLIC Bulletin 31: 35 –36.

Prasher, R. G. and G. P. Rai. 1988. Trends in Growth of LISLiterature as Reported in Indian Periodicals from 1976–1986. Annals of Library Science and Documentation 35 (June):93– 104.

Singh, N. and K. C. Panda. 2002. Growth of LIS literature asreflected in ILA Bulletin (1995–2001): A Study. ILA Bulletin38 (December): 118–122.

Singh, N. and K. C. Panda. 2003. Growth of LIS LiteraturePublished Between 1996–2000: A Case Study of Two MajorLIS Periodicals of India. IASLIC Bulletin 48 (December): 231 –38

Verma, N. 2001. Analysis of Contributions in Library Herald.Library Herald 39 (January-June): 32 –46.

Editorial history:Paper received 27 January 2007;Final version received 8 May 2008;Accepted 1 September 2008.

Influence of Information Technology in Growth and Publication of Indian LIS Literature

Documents

Preparing LIS professionals: Ensuring the relevance of LIS education

The Linked Jazz Project - E-LIS

Leiden Lis Sectoral Income Inequality Dataset

PUBLICATION INFORMATION - CIFOR

LIS 105 INFORMATION SYSTEMS, RESOURCES

Publication DILA - Opendatasoft

Modern Library & Information Science Series 2 (Short): Dr. Kanchan Kamila's contribution to LIS [Only LIS link in India which is helpful to learn 748 concepts of modern LIS subject

O RI ENTA LIS - The Open Buddhist University

Lis Pendens - UND Scholarly Commons

Dissertação Lis Final Pós Defesa - ufpr engenharia florestal

Tax progression: International and intertemporal comparison using LIS data

Publication semestrielle

BERKELEY PUBLICATION

Authors' productivity and co-authorship patterns in Pakistani LIS literature

Publication List

Libya's PIB to announce new investment opportunities at LIS

Publication Bias and the Market Orientation-Performance Nexus Literature

Challenges and Opportunity of LIS Education

Publication DILA - Bodacc

lis 319 management of serial publication