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Topic · Library and Information Sciences

Library Science and Information Literacy

Library Science and Information Literacy is a research topic within Library and Information Sciences. Science Explorer counts 18k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the concepts and practices of information literacy, digital literacy, and library instruction in the context of higher education. It delves into topics such as information behavior of different generations, critical thinking skills, user-centered design of academic libraries, and the impact of digital technologies on research and learning. The papers also discuss the evolving role of academic librarians, assessment of information literacy skills, and the challenges and opportunities for integrating information literacy into the curriculum.

  • Information Literacy
  • Digital Literacy
  • Academic Libraries
  • Information Behavior
  • Library Instruction
  • Generation Y
  • Critical Thinking
  • Online Research
  • User-Centered Design
  • Educational Change
Research works
18k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.8k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-22%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
40% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Library Science and Information Literacy

Which countries lead Library Science and Information Literacy research?

By volume, the United States and Nigeria publish the most (724 and 320 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 724 works
  2. 2 Nigeria 320 works
  3. 3 India 290 works
  4. 4 Ghana 112 works
  5. 5 Indonesia 77 works
  6. 6 Canada 76 works
  7. 7 United Kingdom 53 works
  8. 8 Australia 50 works
  9. 9 Pakistan 46 works
  10. 10 China 45 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 40.4%Nigeria: 17.9%India: 16.2%Ghana: 6.3%6 others listed: 19.3%40%largest
United States724 · 40.4%Nigeria320 · 17.9%India290 · 16.2%Ghana112 · 6.3%6 others listed346 · 19.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Library Science and Information Literacy research?

By volume in 2022-now, African Library and Information Associations and Institutions publishes the most Library Science and Information Literacy research, followed by Association of Research Libraries and Delta State University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 African Library and Information Associations and InstitutionsGhana 90 works
  2. 2 Association of Research LibrariesUnited States 19 works
  3. 3 Delta State UniversityNigeria 17 works
  4. 4 Rivers State UniversityNigeria 17 works
  5. 5 University of South AfricaSouth Africa 15 works
  6. 6 G.S. Science, Arts And Commerce CollegeIndia 15 works
  7. 7 Charles Sturt UniversityAustralia 14 works
  8. 8 University at Buffalo, State University of New YorkUnited States 12 works
  9. 9 Federal College of Education, KanoNigeria 12 works
  10. 10 Tai Solarin University of EducationNigeria 12 works

Who are the leading researchers in Library Science and Information Literacy?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Library Science and Information Literacy include Bruce Thompson and Ion Gabriel Stoica.

  1. 1 Bruce Thompson United States 120k citations
  2. 2 Ion Gabriel Stoica United States 100k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Library Science and Information Literacy?

The most cited paper in Library Science and Information Literacy is "Inside the search process: Information seeking from the user's perspective" (Carol Collier Kuhlthau, 1991), with 2,176 citations. Next come "Information and digital literacies: a review of concepts" (1,203) and "Everyday life information seeking: Approaching information seeking in the context of “way of life”" (1,033).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Inside the search process: Information seeking from the user's perspective Carol Collier Kuhlthau · Journal of the American Society for Information Science Jun 1991 2,176
2 Information and digital literacies: a review of concepts David Bawden · Journal of Documentation Open access Apr 2001 1,203
3 Everyday life information seeking: Approaching information seeking in the context of “way of life” Reijo Savolainen · Library & Information Science Research Jun 1995 1,033
4 The Adoption of Technological, Administrative, and Ancillary Innovations: Impact of Organizational Factors Fariborz Damanpour · Journal of Management Dec 1987 959
5 Evaluation thesaurus, 4th ed. Michael Scriven 1991 956
All 97 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Library Science and Information Literacy research done?

The largest centres of Library Science and Information Literacy research in 2022-now are Accra (Ghana), Ibadan (Nigeria), Washington D.C. (United States) and Port Harcourt (Nigeria). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Accra.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 AccraGhana 99 works
  2. 2 IbadanNigeria 28 works
  3. 3 Washington D.C.United States 27 works
  4. 4 Port HarcourtNigeria 25 works
  5. 5 ChicagoUnited States 20 works
  6. 6 New YorkUnited States 19 works
  7. 7 Ado-EkitiNigeria 19 works
  8. 8 PretoriaSouth Africa 18 works
  9. 9 AbrakaNigeria 17 works
  10. 10 KanoNigeria 17 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. AccraGH · 99.2 works81×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Library Science and Information Literacy than the world average.

See Library Science and Information Literacy on the map

Where is the best place to study Library Science and Information Literacy?

Among universities, judged by research, Charles Sturt University, University of South Africa and Rivers State University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 11.67%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Charles Sturt Univer…University of South …Rivers State Univers…Delta State University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Charles Sturt UniversityAustralia 86.640.3%50.6×14 +71.4%
2University of South AfricaSouth Africa 63.517.4%16.9×15 +1.3%
3Rivers State UniversityNigeria 54.87.2%48.4×16 +86.9%
4Delta State UniversityNigeria 54.71.1%69.2×17 +191.5%
5University at Buffalo, State University of New YorkUnited States 53.98.9%15.2×12 +68.9%
6The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-EkitiNigeria 44.810.3%48.5×12 +121.6%
7G.S. Science, Arts And Commerce CollegeIndia 44.61.6%42.7×14 +204.9%
8University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States 44.016.4%5.5×10 +14.7%
9City University of New YorkUnited States 42.412.8%10.2×12 -51.3%
10Tai Solarin University of EducationNigeria 41.10.7%339.4×12 +443.3%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Library Science and Information Literacy, country by country

Is Library Science and Information Literacy research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 22% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2013.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Library Science and Information Literacy as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0093% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Library Science and Information Literacy0.010% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Library Science and Information Literacy over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Library Science and Information Literacy10.7% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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