Information and library science, changes that influenced it's new character, direction and research: A bibliometric study, 1985-2006

The present bibliometric study intended to characterize research literature in the field of Information and Library Science (LIS) during the years 1985-2006. The results revealed, that the field has undergone significant changes, mainly paradigmatically. The process paradigm prevalent until mid-1970's in research, was replaced by the user paradigm that, during the years under study, gained new perspective of the sociological aspect of information technology integration that is developing rapidly. The following methodologies were used for this study: content analysis, reference analysis, faceted classification. Content analysis was performed by using an updated taxonomy designed for this research. In this research we found that the field of LIS is influenced mainly by disciplines belonging to the social sciences. Through the years, the field tends to become more interdisciplinary. Theoretically, we surmise that this research contributes on a conceptual level to the process of self-knowledge of the field. Methodologies used in this study are not based on large research populations, but require intensive examination of the literature and evaluation of the contents of articles for the purpose of in depth subject analysis. Follow up studies are popular with many fields of the sciences like: sociology, education, economics, demography, medicine and others.