Evolution of research topics in LIS between 1996 and 2019: an analysis based on latent Dirichlet allocation topic model
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Evolution of research topics in LIS between 1996 and 2019: an analysis based on latent Dirichlet allocation topic model Xiaoyao Han1 Accepted: 12 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract This study investigated the evolution of library and information science (LIS) by analyzing research topics in LIS journal articles. The analysis is divided into five periods covering the years 1996–2019. Latent Dirichlet allocation modeling was used to identify underlying topics based on 14,035 documents. An improved data-selection method was devised in order to generate a dynamic journal list that included influential journals for each period. Results indicate that (a) library science has become less prevalent over time, as there are no top topic clusters relevant to library issues since the period 2000–2005; (b) bibliometrics, especially citation analysis, is highly stable across periods, as reflected by the stable subclusters and consistent keywords; and (c) information retrieval has consistently been the dominant domain with interests gradually shifting to model-based text processing. Information seeking and behavior is also a stable field that tends to be dispersed among various topics rather than presented as its own subject. Information systems and organizational activities have been continuously discussed and have developed a closer relationship with e-commerce. Topics that occurred only once have undergone a change of technological context from the networks and Internet to social media and mobile applications. Keywords Library and information science · LDA · Research trends
Introduction A notable trend has been observed in library and information science (LIS): the inclusion of “information” as part of the discipline’s name. After the foundation of the first library school in 1887, the School of Library Science at the University of Pittsburgh added “information” to its name in 1964, becoming the School of Library and Information Science. By the 1990s, almost all former library schools had followed the University of Pittsburgh’s example (Hjørland 2018). In the twenty-first century, the diminishing use of “library” and related terms was found in LIS dissertations (Sugimoto et al. 2010) and a decreased interest in library management was found in LIS publications (Figuerola et al. 2017); the tendency today is to use the label “Information Science” alone (Olson and Grudin 2009). * Xiaoyao Han hanxiaoy@hu‑berlin.de 1
School of Library and Information Science, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Scientometrics
These shifts in nomenclature indicate that the research areas of LIS have changed substantially over time, and the research focus is shifting to informational issues. To understand the development of the discipline and how its research topics have changed over time, many researchers have explored the changes of research topics based on literature in the field. Bibliometric methods are prevalent approaches in evaluation studies (Zhao and Strotmann 2008, 2014; White and McCain
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