Doctoral Programs, Dissertations, and Graduates: Characteristics of the Literature, 1926-80

Abrera, Josefa B.

doi:10.2307/40323634

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…To this end, a number of evaluations of the doctorate and dissertations in LIS have been conducted. These have focused on the admissions criteria, demographics, and postcareer trajectories of students (e.g., Bobinski, 1986; Whitbeck, 1991a, 1991b; for a review of pre‐1987 studies, see Abrera, 1987). At the discipline level, Sugimoto et al (2009) studied the number of degrees awarded in LIS schools from 1930 to 2008.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The shifting sands of disciplinary development: Analyzing North American Library and Information Science dissertations using latent Dirichlet allocation

Sugimoto

Russell

et al. 2010

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

100

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This work identifies changes in dominant topics IntroductionMany evaluations of library and information science (LIS) have been conducted, primarily using the methods of content analysis and cocitation analysis on journal articles (e.g., Järvelin & Vakkari, 1993;White & McCain, 1998). The majority of these focus on a single period in LIS (e.g., Järvelin & Vakkari, 1990;Kumpulainen, 1991). Subsequent analyses often use different source titles, techniques, or coding schemes, making comparison between the analyses difficult. Although these studies constitute one lens on the field, there are some major limitations to the current literature in the area. First, the focus on a single communicative genre (the journal article) provides a monocular view of the field. Research has shown that the writing and citing patterns of authors vary significantly by genre (Bazerman, 1988;Hyland, 2000). A different topic spectrum may be found by examining topics across multiple genres. Second, the focus has been on either a group of highly cited authors or a sample of journal articles. Previous analyses have been manually intensive, necessitating small sample sizes. This has the potential to skew the results in two ways: (a) highly cited works are not necessarily representative of the works produced, and (b) a few articles/authors can heavily influence the results. Lastly, the analyses have been largely synchronic, rather than diachronic. Therefore, trend data rely on replication studies, which are not prevalent in the literature.Understanding the development of the discipline and changes in topics over time is particularly necessary in LIS, which has an extended literature of questioning its own disciplinary identity and the relationship of the library science and information science components of the name. Dissertations may serve a critical function in the exploration of disciplinary identity. During the doctoral process, students are acculturated in the ways of the discipline and are taught the central theories, methods, and objects of scrutiny within the domain. The dissertation is seen as independent and original research that is meant to set the foundation for the rest of the scholar's career. Therefore, it should accomplish two goals: situate the research within the domain, and explore new and original territory. Furthermore, although the primary focus of doctoral education is on the production of researchers (Sugimoto, 2010a), a secondary focus is the creation of new faculty. Therefore, the topics explored in doctoral dissertations may have an indirect effect on the education of the next generation of master's students.This study provides a new lens on disciplinary identity, by identifying the main topics in LIS dissertations from . A topic modeling technique, latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) modeling, is used. We have both an historical and methodological objective: (a) to identify the main topics in LIS diachronically, and (b) to examine the use of LDA in analyzing disciplinary development and change.This work addresses gaps...

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The shifting sands of disciplinary development: Analyzing North American Library and Information Science dissertations using latent Dirichlet allocation

Sugimoto

Russell

et al. 2010

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

100

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Information sources in library and information science doctoral research

Buttlar

1999

Library & Information Science Research

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Archival Education and the Need for Full-Time Faculty

Conway

1988

The American Archivist

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A healthy system of professional education has three complementary components: professional associations, practitioners in the field, and faculty in academic settings. The lack of a sufficient number of full-time faculty is the weakest aspect of the current system of education for archivists. Drawing on the extensive literature on education for professions, especially librarianship, the author speculates on the advantages for the archival profession of a larger number of faculty, sketches an appropriate role for such a faculty, and encourages further development of a more complete system of archival education.

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Doctoral Programs, Dissertations, and Graduates: Characteristics of the Literature, 1926-80

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

The shifting sands of disciplinary development: Analyzing North American Library and Information Science dissertations using latent Dirichlet allocation

The shifting sands of disciplinary development: Analyzing North American Library and Information Science dissertations using latent Dirichlet allocation

Information sources in library and information science doctoral research

Archival Education and the Need for Full-Time Faculty

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