Citation as a Form of Library Use

Abstract

The citation analysis literature of the last twenty years is selectively reviewed for papers dealing with citation accuracy, citer motivation and the relationship between citation frequency and library use of materials. Although this relationship is rather complex. the two activity measures are moderately correlated. Citation of an item should promote its use and vice versa. There are some factors, however, which inhibit a very high correlation. Faculty who cite use nonlibrary as well as library materials, and hey tend to use scholarly journals which often do not circulate (circulation k i n g one measure of library use). Citations are not simply countable data points; some are more important than others, or differ in purpose. Further, there is a subliterature detailing h e degree of inaccuracy among citations. Collectively, these variables tend to dilute the correlation between use of library materials and citation frequency. These limitations notwithstanding, citations represent an auditable trail of scholarship, and citation analysis remains a useful tool for evaluation of library collections and subject literatures.

How Much Do Core Journals Change over a Decade?

“…For an overview of studies that looked at the correlation of global with local use, see Kelland and Young. 30 They note that citation is a useful evaluative tool even though faculty refer to journals beyond their library's collection and some uses of journals in the collection may go uncounted. A few studies of global versus local use have used rank correlation as the method for measuring the relationship.…”

Master’s Students in History Could Benefit from a Greater Library Sensitivity and Commitment to Interdisciplinarity, and from More Efficient Document Delivery

“…A more fundamental defect is that his article displays only perfunctory sensitivity to the inherent weaknesses of citation analysis -or, as in his case more specifically, references list analysisas a research method. Much has been written concerning its weaknesses and validity problems, but Sherriff makes no reference even to publications as relevant as those of Line (1977Line ( , 1978, Smith (1981), MacRoberts (1989, 2010), Kelland and Young (1994), nor even to Haycock's (2004) specific warnings regarding potential graduate student citing tendencies. We should by now all be aware that inclusion in a references list is not necessarily the same thing as use, and that useof whatever variety -is something quite different from need.…”

“…Line (1977Line ( , 1978 found that citation analyses were of no value, and were indeed irrelevant, to practical librarianship. Kelland and Young (1994) concluded that the relationship between citation activity and library materials use was for numerous reasons "inherently problematical," and saw the two measures as no more than "moderately correlated." Still, the question remains: even if we do in principle accept such a correlation, what should this imply for our actual library and information services practice?…”

Using local citation data to relate the use of journal articles by academic researchers to the coverage of full‐text document access systems

“…More generally, Kelland and Young [21,22] [26], and multiplying sources in a more or less competitive market. While journal articles (in whatever form) retain a major role in the dissemination of scholarly information in many subjects, as is likely in the short and medium term, then research into their provision remains valid.…”