on the evolution of library and information science...

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On the Evolution of Library and Information Science Doctoral Dissertation Topics in North America (1960–2013)Fei Shu

School of Information Studies, McGill University. Email: [email protected]

Vincent Larivière

École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information, Université de Montréal. Email: [email protected]

Philippe Mongeon

École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information, Université de Montréal. Email: [email protected]

Charles-Antoine Julien

School of Information Studies, McGill University. Email: [email protected]

Andrew Piper

Department of Language, Literatures, and Cultures, McGill University. Email: [email protected]

Since the 1960s, many scholars have questioned the relationship between library sci-ence and information science. This paper investigates LIS doctoral dissertations in terms of their topics and interdisciplinarity in the period 1960–2013. Results show that LIS is an interdisciplinary field in which library science and information science are intimately related. The study shows that Information Science has surpassed Library Science to be-come the dominant research topic in LIS. It also shows that the academic background of doctoral advisors affects the interdisciplinarity of their student’s doctoral dissertations.

Keywords: library and information science education, dissertation topics, bibliometrics, academic advisors, doctoral education

J. of Education for Library and Information Science, Vol. 57, No. 2—(Spring) April 2016ISSN: 0748-5786 © 2016 Association for Library and Information Science Education

doi:10.12783/issn.2328-2967/57/2/5

Introduction

Since the 1960s, Library and Informa-tion Science (LIS) has been undergo-

ing a period of change wherein questions continue to be asked about the relationship between the library sciences and informa-WLRQ�VFLHQFH��'LOORQ��,W�LV�DUJXHG�OL-brary science and information science are WZR�GLIIHUHQW�¿HOGV�WKDW�KDYH�VWURQJ�LQWHU-GLVFLSOLQDU\�UHODWLRQV��+ROPHV��6DU-acevic, 1999) rather than being part of the LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDU\�¿HOG�RI�/,6��7DQJ��As an original contribution to the advance-PHQW� RI� NQRZOHGJH� �-RKQVRQ�� '��

2¶&RQQRU��3DUN��WKH�GRFWRUDO�GLV-VHUWDWLRQ�DQG�LWV�WRSLFDO�¿HOG�FODVVL¿FDWLRQ�can shed light on the transformations of LIS research. For example, this approach has been used to investigate the interdis-ciplinary relations between graduates and their advisors (Sugimoto, Li, Russell, Fin-OD\��'LQJ��6WXGLHV�KDYH�UHSRUWHG�a decreasing use of the word library in LIS doctoral dissertations (Finlay, Sugi-PRWR��/L��5XVVHOO��6XJLPRWR��/L��et al.��DQG�WKDW�information science has surpassed library science to become the most prevalent research topic in LIS (Finlay et al.�� /DULYLqUH�� 6XJLPR-

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE132

WR��&URQLQ��6XJLPRWR��/L��et al., ��+RZHYHU��QR�VWXG\�KDV�LQYHVWLJDWHG�the evolution of the interdisciplinary rela-tions in LIS doctoral dissertations topics. The purpose of this study is to establish the prevalence of LIS doctoral dissertation topics. It also investigates how disserta-tion topics have evolved since the 1960s’ and demonstrates the interdisciplinary re-lationship between dissertation topics in this period.

Literature Review

Studies that investigate LIS doctoral dissertations have shown that Library Sci-ence is no longer the dominant research topic in LIS. Scholars began to investi-gate LIS doctoral dissertations at the end RI��V��$QVHOPR��/DQH��0��2¶&RQQRU�� +RXVHU� �� GH¿QHV�the discipline of LIS by analyzing the research interests of all LIS doctoral dis-sertations, which are used in the current research. After examining their titles and DEVWUDFWV� EHWZHHQ� �� DQG� �� 6XJL-moto, Li, et al.��UHSRUW�WKDW�WKH�PDLQ�topics in LIS doctoral dissertations have FKDQJHG� VXEVWDQWLDOO\� GXULQJ� WKH� SDVW� ��\HDUV��6SHFL¿FDOO\��Library Science is no longer the most prevalent research topic in WKLV�¿HOG��6WXGLHV�UHSRUW�D�GLPLQLVKLQJ�XVH�of the term Library Science and library-related words such as cataloging, refer-ence, and collection. This trend has been reported in the context of LIS doctoral dis-sertations (Finlay et al.��6XJLPRWR��Li, et al.�� DQG� LQ� VFLHQWL¿F� SDSHUV��/DULYLqUH�et al.��

An increase in the interdisciplinarity in LIS dissertations is well documented. 7DQJ��XVHV�FLWDWLRQ�DQDO\VLV�WR�VKRZ�WKDW�/,6�LV�D�KLJKO\�LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDU\�¿HOG��&KDQJ� DQG� +XDQJ� �� LQGLFDWH� WKDW�the degree of LIS interdisciplinarity has LQFUHDVHG� VLQFH� WKH� ��V� E\� LQYHVWLJDW-ing the citation, bibliographic coupling, and co-authorship of LIS journal articles IURP� �� WR� �� 7KH\� DOVR� UHSRUW� DQ�increase in collaborations between LIS

3K'V�DQG�UHVHDUFKHUV�DI¿OLDWHG�ZLWK�QRQ�/,6�LQVWLWXWHV��/,6�3K'V�EHQH¿W�IURP�FRO-laborations with more experienced and established researchers since it improves their productivity in terms of publications �/DULYLHUH��

Previous research suggests that LIS doctoral advisors’ disciplinary back-JURXQG�LQÀXHQFH�WKH�LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDULW\�RI�their student’s doctoral dissertations. Sug-LPRWR��5XVVHOO��DQG�*UDQW��UHYHDO�D�radical change in the interdisciplinarity of LIS doctoral advisors: it generally shifts from history and education to computer science and information technology. Sugi-PRWR��1L��5XVVHOO��DQG�%\FKRZVNL��indicate that the disciplinary background of LIS advisors has an effect on the inter-disciplinarity of the LIS doctoral disserta-tion. They examined the references from 60 LIS dissertations completed between ��DQG��RI�ZKLFK��ZHUH�VXSHU-vised by advisors with an LIS background DQG��ZHUH�VXSHUYLVHG�E\�DGYLVRUV�ZLWK�a non-LIS background. Results show that dissertations written under the supervision of advisors with an LIS background cite more LIS resources while those written under advisors with non-LIS backgrounds cite more interdisciplinary resources.

Although previous studies report the evolution of research topics and interdis-ciplinarity of LIS doctoral dissertations by investigating their titles, abstracts, refer-ences and citations, no research explores this evolution by analyzing the controlled topical terms from the ProQuest Subject Categories used by the ProQuest Thesis and Dissertation Database. All submit-ting authors are required to select one or more subject categories that best describe WKH� ¿HOG�V�� RI� WKH� GLVVHUWDWLRQ¶V� UHVHDUFK�(ProQuest). The chosen controlled topi-cal terms represent the dissertation re-search’s topic(s) from the authors’ point of view. Sugimoto, Ni, et al.� �� LV�the only study concerning the effects of LIS doctoral advisors’ disciplinary back-ground on the interdisciplinarity of their VWXGHQW¶V�GRFWRUDO�GLVVHUWDWLRQV��KRZHYHU��

On the Evolution of Library and Information Science Doctoral Dissertation Topics 133

it is based on a small data set consisting of 60 LIS dissertations. Their results should be validated using a larger sample of LIS dissertations and additional interdisciplin-arity variables that describe the advisors’ academic background. In order to address these gaps this study investigates the con-trolled topical terms found in the ProQuest Thesis and Dissertation Database to reveal the evolution in LIS doctoral dissertation topics and whether the LIS doctoral super-vision interdisciplinarity correlates with the change in LIS dissertation topics. Spe-FL¿FDOO\��

1. How have LIS doctoral dissertation topics evolved since the 1960s?

�� How interdisciplinary are LIS theses and how has this evolved since the 1960s?

�� How are these evolutions affected by the doctoral advisors’ academic back-ground?

Methodology

Dissertations produced between 1960 DQG��E\��$/$�VFKRROV�ZHUH�FROOHFW-ed. These schools are found in the data-base of ALA accredited programs(ALA), ZKLFK� LQGLFDWHV� WKDW��$/$�VFKRROV�DUH�FXUUHQWO\� RIIHULQJ� D� 3K'� SURJUDP�� WKHUH�DUH� ¿YH� GLVFRQWLQXHG� $/$� VFKRROV�� DQG�three current ALA schools that once of-fered a PhD program.

Collecting a list of LIS PhD disserta-tions involved three steps. First, a manu-ally validated list of graduated PhD VWXGHQWV� EHWZHHQ� �� DQG� �� DQG�their advisor(s) was compiled using the 03$&7�GDWDEDVH��03$&7��ZKLFK�UHFRUGV�DOO�/,6�3K'V�IURP��WR��Second, LIS PhDs who graduated after �� ZHUH� LGHQWL¿HG� DQG� DGGHG� WR� WKH�list by searching the ProQuest Thesis and Dissertation Database and corresponding university websites. Finally, all LIS doc-toral dissertations corresponding to this list of LIS PhD graduates were retrieved from the ProQuest Thesis and Disserta-

Table 1. Numbers of LIS PhDs and Dissertations Retrieved by University

(1960–2013).

University PhD Dissertation

Pittsburgh 406 407*Rutgers 275 275Florida State 255 254Illinois 217 216North Texas 199 199Indiana 187 187Michigan 175 175Columbia** 160 159Case Western Reserve** 134 134North Carolina 114 114Syracuse 108 108Wisconsin, Madison 105 105Berkeley** 101 100Drexel 93 93Simmons 82 36Texas Woman's 78 78Albany, SUNY 77 77Texas, Austin 77 67UCLA 75 75Toronto 74 74Western 64 57Chicago** 60 60Southern California** 50 50Hawaii 41 41Missouri 41 41McGill 33 24Washington 29 29Emporia State 27 27Alabama 25 25Arizona 17 17Minnesota*** 17 17Buffalo, SUNY*** 16 16Tennessee 13 4Long Island 12 12Montreal 12 12British Columbia 11 0Dominican 9 0Wisconsin, Milwaukee 9 8San Jose State 5 0Alberta 5 5Oklahoma*** 4 4South Carolina 4 4Kentucky 1 1*One PhD graduate from Pittsburgh obtained double doctoral degree.

**Discontinued ALA Schools.

***ALA Schools offering a PhD Program in history.


tion Database based on their availability. 7KLV�SURFHVV�SURGXFHG�D�OLVW�RI��/,6�GRFWRUDO�GLVVHUWDWLRQV�IURP�D�WRWDO�RI��graduated LIS PhD students, meaning that 96.9% of doctoral dissertations were col-lected as shown in Table 1. ,Q�DGGLWLRQ��/,6�3K'�DGYLVRUV¶�GRF-

WRUDO�GLVVHUWDWLRQV��RI�DOO�DGYLVRUV��ZHUH�FROOHFWHG�RI�ZKLFK��GLVVHUWDWLRQV�DUH�DOVR�SDUW�RI�WKH��/,6�GLVVHUWDWLRQV��7KHVH�GLVVHUWDWLRQV�HVWDEOLVK��GRFWRU-al student/advisor relation pairs (including ��FR�VXSHUYLVLRQ��

For each dissertation, their controlled topical terms (hereinafter referred to top-ics) were retrieved from the Subject Clas-VL¿FDWLRQV� ¿HOG� IRXQG� LQ� WKH� 3UR4XHVW�Thesis and Dissertation Database. Dis-VHUWDWLRQV� ZLWK� �� DQG� PRUH� WRSLFV� ZHUH�FRGHG�DV�LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDU\��WKLV�SURGXFHG�D�OLVW�RI��LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDU\�GLVVHUWDWLRQV�WKDW�FRQWDLQHG��WRSLF�SDLUV�RI�ZKLFK��ZHUH�XQLTXH�FR�DVVLJQHG�WRSLF�SDLUV�

A co-occurrence map illustrates the trends in LIS dissertation topic co-as-VLJQPHQWV�� WKH� WHFKQLTXH� LV� HVWDEOLVKHG��/H\GHVGRUII��5DIROV��<DQ��'LQJ��=KX��=KDR��DQG�DSSURSUL-ate when the objective is to highlight how objects are related. Topic co-assignments ZHUH�LPSRUWHG�LQWR�WKH�*HSKL��JUDSK�drawing application in order to generate a visual map of the LIS PhD topics where topics are nodes drawn as colored circles and topic co-occurrences form edges (i.e. lines) between them. These maps can re-veal clusters that express the prevalence of WRSLF�FR�DVVLJQPHQWV��WKH�QRGHV�DQG�HGJHV�within the same cluster were assigned to the same color. To reveal the evolution of topic prevalence the data was analyzed by the number of co-assignments in groups based on the decade of graduation.

Results

Evolution of Dissertation Topics

The number of yearly LIS PhD gradu-DWHV� LQFUHDVHV� IURP�� LQ�� WR�� LQ�

�� DQG� UHDFKHV� LWV� KLJKHVW� QXPEHU� RI�JUDGXDWHV��LQ��$PRQJ�WKH��/,6�GRFWRUDO�GLVVHUWDWLRQV��DUH�LQWHU-GLVFLSOLQDU\�GLVVHUWDWLRQV�ZLWK��WR��WRS-ics, and the mean number of topics per dis-VHUWDWLRQ�LV��)LJXUH��VKRZV�WKDW�WKLV�number has increased from 1.006 in the ��V�WR��LQ�WKH��V�ZKLOH�WKH�SHU-centage of interdisciplinary dissertations KDV� LQFUHDVHG� IURP� �� WR� �� RYHU�this time. Note that in both cases Figure 1 VKRZV�DQ�DEUXSW�LQFUHDVH�LQ�WKH�ODWH��V�)LJXUH��SUHVHQWV�WKH�SUHYDOHQFH�RI�GLV-

VHUWDWLRQ� WRSLFV� IURP� �� WR� �� Li-brary Science, the most prevalent topic, DSSHDUV� LQ� �� GLVVHUWDWLRQV� ��EXW� LW� LV� DVVLJQHG� WR� �� RI� GLVVHUWD-WLRQV� LQ� WKH��V�GRZQ� WR�� LQ� WKH��V�� Information Science appears in ��GLVVHUWDWLRQV� ��DQG�EHFRPHV�WKH�PRVW� SUHYDOHQW� WRSLF� DIWHU� WKH� ��V��its ratio increases from 0% in the 1960s WR� �� LQ� WKH� ��V�� GLVVHUWDWLRQV��FRQWDLQ�ERWK�Library Science and Information Science�ZKLOH��KDYH�neither. Computer Science, Educational Technology, and Higher Education were UDQNHG��UG�WR��WK��EXW�WKHLU�VKDUHV�DUH�OHVV�than 10% of the total topic assignments.

Dissertation Topic Co-Assignments

)URP��WR��Library Science and Information Science� DFFRXQW� IRU� ��RI�DVVLJQHG�WRSLF�SDLUV��IRO-lowed by Information Science and Com-puter Science��DQG�Information Sci-ence and Educational Technology� ��The evolution over time shows that there was one interdisciplinary dissertation in 1960s containing one topic pair: Library Science and Modern Literature. The in-terdisciplinary topic maps for each decade IURP�WKH��V�WR�WKH��V�DUH�SUHVHQWHG�LQ� )LJXUH� �� ,Q� WKH� ��V� D� PDUNHG� LQ-crease in the number of interdisciplinary LIS dissertations produces three separate clusters but Library Science and Informa-tion Science�DUH�QRW�\HW�VLJQL¿FDQWO\�FRQ-nected. A single cluster forms during the


��V�DQG��V��UHSUHVHQWLQJ�WKH�¿HOG�RI�LIS with Library Science and Information Science as its two main topics. Since the 1990s, Information Science has replaced Library Science as the dominant LIS topic as shown by the size of the node circles in WKH��V�DQG��V�

LIS Doctoral Advisor

The radical growth in the number of multidisciplinary dissertation may in part be explained by the systematic recruitment of multidisciplinary faculty members that in turn attract and supervise multidisci-

Figure 1. 'HJUHH�RI�LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDULW\�LQ�/,6�GRFWRUDO�GLVVHUWDWLRQV��±��

Figure 2. 7RS��WRSLFDO�WHUPV�RI�/,6�GRFWRUDO�GLVVHUWDWLRQV��±��

plinary PhD students. To verify this possi-ELOLW\��GLVVHUWDWLRQV�ZULWWHQ�E\�/,6�DG-visors were analyzed as a group. Figure 4 VKRZV�WKDW��DGYLVRUV��REWDLQHG�a doctoral degree in LIS and the remaining �� ZHUH� IURP� RWKHU� ¿HOGV�� DQG��RI�/,6�DGYLVRUV¶�GLVVHU-tations are interdisciplinary. )URP� �� WR� �� WKHVH� �� DGYL-

VRUV� FROOHFWLYHO\� VXSHUYLVHG� �� 3K'�students, each supervising between 1 and ��JUDGXDWLQJ�3K'V��)LJXUH��VKRZV� WKDW�the ratio of LIS PhDs supervised by advi-sors with LIS/non-LIS degree increases VLQFH� WKH� ODWH��V��)LJXUH��VKRZV� WKDW�


the ratio of LIS PhDs supervised by advi-sors with an interdisciplinary dissertation LQFUHDVHV�VLQFH��V��)LJXUH��VKRZV�WKDW�the LIS advisors’ seniority, as measured by the difference in the number of years between the student’s and the advisor’s graduation year, also increases since the late 1960s. These changes in LIS advi-sors’ academic background correspond to the abrupt increase shown in Figure 1.

Discussion

2XU� ¿QGLQJV� FRQ¿UP� HDUOLHU� UHVHDUFK�stating that Information Science has sur-passed Library Science to become the dominant research interest in LIS (Finlay et al.�� 6XJLPRWR�� /L�� et al.�� and corroborates previous studies report-ing the increase of interdisciplinarity in /,6��&KDQJ��+XDQJ��7DQJ��

Figure 3. Topical term co-assignment in LIS doctoral dissertations by decade.


However, this study indicates a sudden LQFUHDVH� LQ� WKH� ODWH��V� LQ� WHUPV�RI� WKH�average number of LIS dissertation topics and the ratio of interdisciplinary disserta-tions as compared to the gradual increase of interdisciplinarity in previous eras ob-VHUYHG�E\�&KDQJ�DQG�+XDQJ��7KH�ODWH��V�LQFUHDVH�RI�LQWHUGLVFLSOL-

narity in LIS dissertations may be partly attributed to the iSchool movement initi-DWHG�LQ��ZKLFK�VWHPV�IURP�WUDGLWLRQDO�library science while promoting an in-terdisciplinary approach to the advance-PHQW�RI�LQIRUPDWLRQ�VFLHQFH��%UXFH��.LQJ��3HUKDSV�DV�WKH�LQWHUGLVFLSOLQ-DU\�¿HOG�FRQVLVWLQJ�RI�Library Science and Information Science was formed in the ��V� �7DQJ�� WKH� QXPEHU� RI� GLV-sertations indexed using both Library Sci-ence and Information Science increased IURP��LQ�WKH��V�WR��LQ�WKH��V��

In addition, closures of traditional library VFKRROV�LQ�WKH��V��:LJJLQV��6DZ\HU��PD\�DOVR�KDYH�UHGXFHG�WKH�QXPEHU�of purely Library Science dissertations. 7DEOH� �� OLVWV� WKH� WRS� �� QRQ�LQWHUGLVFL-plinary LIS schools in terms of the mean number of topics per doctoral disserta-tions. Among these 10 universities, Case Western Reserve, Chicago, Southern Cali-fornia, Columbia, and Berkeley, which as D�JURXS�FRQWULEXWHG��RI�single-topic LIS dissertations over three GHFDGHV� ��±�� FORVHG� WKHLU� WUDGL-WLRQDO� OLEUDU\� VFKRROV� GXULQJ� WKH� ��V��This partly explains both the decrease in the number of non-interdisciplinary LIS dissertation and the increase in the number of interdisciplinary LIS dissertation.

Sugimoto, Ni, et al.� �� VXJJHVWV�that the advisors’ disciplinary background has an impact on the interdisciplinarity

Figure 5. 5DWLR�RI�/,6�3K'V�E\�DGYLVRUV¶�GLVFLSOLQDU\�EDFNJURXQG��±��

Figure 4. $FDGHPLF�EDFNJURXQG�RI�/,6�GRFWRUDO�DGYLVRUV��±��


RI� WKH� /,6� GRFWRUDO� GLVVHUWDWLRQ�� WKLV� LV�FRQ¿UPHG�E\�WKLV�VWXG\�EDVHG�RQ�D�PXFK�larger dataset that spans over a longer period of time. In addition, this study in-vestigates the advisors’ disciplinary back-ground (i.e., whether they graduated from an LIS school), the interdisciplinarity of their dissertations (i.e., the number of top-ics assigned to their dissertation), and their seniority (i.e., the number of years since their graduation). )LJXUH��¶V� OHIW�FKDUW�VKRZV�WKDW��

�� RI� /,6� 3K'V� VXSHUYLVHG� E\�advisors with a doctoral degree in LIS conducted an interdisciplinary disserta-WLRQ�ZKLOH��RI�/,6�3K'V�whose advisor graduated from another ¿HOG� FRQGXFWHG� DQ� LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDU\� UH-

VHDUFK��)LJXUH��¶V�ULJKW�FKDUW�FRUURERUDWHV�this trend based on the distinction between LIS and non-LIS dissertation topics. It VKRZV� WKDW� �� RI� 3K'V� ZKRVH� DGYL-VRUV�KDG�D�/,6�GRFWRUDO�GHJUHH��chose topics other than Library Science and Information Science (hereinafter re-ferred to non-LIS topics) in their disserta-WLRQV�ZKLOH��RI�3K'V�VXSHUYLVHG�E\�advisors having a non-LIS doctoral degree ��DVVLJQHG�DW� OHDVW�RQH�QRQ�/,6�topic to their dissertation.

These results show that students of in-terdisciplinary advisors are more likely to produce an interdisciplinary disserta-WLRQ��LQGHHG��DV�VKRZQ�LQ�)LJXUH��RI�3K'�VWXGHQWV� VXSHUYLVHG�E\�an interdisciplinary advisor also chose

Figure 7. /,6�DGYLVRUV¶�VHQLRULW\��±��

Figure 6 5DWLR�RI�/,6�3K'V�DGYLVRUV¶�LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDULW\�LQ�WKHLU�GLVVHUWDWLRQ��±��


interdisciplinary topics for their disserta-WLRQV��ZKLOH�WKLV�UDWLR�LV��for PhDs whose advisor submitted a single WRSLF�GLVVHUWDWLRQ��7KLV� LV�D�QRYHO�¿QGLQJ�of this study.

The analysis of advisor dissertations also reveals that PhDs supervised by more experienced advisors, as measured by the difference in the number of years between the student’s and the advisor’s graduation year, are more likely to conduct an inter-disciplinary dissertation and to choose QRQ�/,6� WRSLFV�� WKLV� LV� DOVR� D� QRYHO�¿QG-ing of this study. Figure 10 shows that both the percentage of interdisciplinary dissertations and dissertations having non-LIS topics follow the increase in advisors’

seniority: more than half of LIS PhDs �� VXSHUYLVHG� E\� DGYLVRUV� KDYLQJ�more than 10 years experience conducted an interdisciplinary dissertation while this UDWLR�LV��IRU�3K'V�VXSHUYLVHG�E\�DG-visors having 10 years or fewer years of H[SHULHQFH�� 7KLV� WUHQG� LV� DOVR� UHÀHFWHG�by the percentage of dissertations having QRQ�/,6�WRSLFV�WKDW�DUH��DQG��respectively.

Limitations

The analyzed data is not fully compre-hensive: not all dissertations are indexed by ProQuest and 111 LIS PhDs’ advisors FRXOG�QRW�EH�LGHQWL¿HG��$GGLWLRQDOO\��GLV-

Table 1. Top 10 Non-interdisciplinary LIS Schools based on Dissertations (1960–2013).

University

Mean Number of

Research Topics

Number of Single-topic

Dissertations

Number of

Graduated PhDs

Oklahoma 1.000 4 4Minnesota 1.000 17 17Case Western Reserve 1.030 131 134Chicago 1.183 56 60Southern California 1.260 41 50Columbia University 1.321 127 159Montreal 1.333 8 12South Carolina 1.500 3 4Michigan 1.657 118 175Berkeley 1.670 63 100

Figure 8. Interdisciplinarity in LIS Doctoral Dissertations by advisor background.


sertation topics are chosen by their author and may be inconsistently indexed across dissertations. Finally, overtime, the addi-tions and updates to ProQuest’s topical FODVVL¿FDWLRQ�VFKHPH�PD\�DIIHFW� WKH�HYR-lution in the number of dissertation per topic, and changes in indexing practice may affect the number of topics per dis-sertation.

Conclusion

This study performed an analysis of the evolution of research topics and interdis-ciplinarity in LIS doctoral dissertations showing a radical change in LIS since the ODWH� ��V�� Information Science has re-

placed Library Science as the most preva-lent dissertation topic, and this coincides with a shift towards interdisciplinary dis-sertation research. The mapping of LIS doctoral dissertation topic co-assignments revealed a strong relationship between Library science and Information science VWLOO�H[LVWV�� WKLV�VKRZV� WKDW�/,6� LV�VWLOO�DQ�LQWHUGLVFLSOLQDU\�¿HOG��7KHVH�¿QGLQJV�FRQ-¿UP� WKRVH� IURP� SUHYLRXV� VWXGLHV�� ZKLFK�lend credence to the choice of data set and methodology. 1RYHO�¿QGLQJV�RI�WKLV�VWXG\�FRQFHUQ�WKH�

effects of the doctoral advisors’ disciplin-ary background and the interdisciplinarity of their dissertation on the interdisciplinar-ity of their students’ dissertation, and the

Figure 10. Interdisciplinarity in LIS Doctoral Dissertations by Advisors’ Seniority.

Figure 9 Interdisciplinarity in LIS Doctoral Dissertations between students and advisors.


effect of the advisors’ seniority. This last ¿QGLQJ�LV�SHUKDSV�WKH�PRVW�VWULNLQJ��DV�/,6�faculty gain experience they increase the interdisciplinarity of their PhD research advising. Future research should compare this effect of seniority with non-LIS do-mains and further investigate results by analyzing the bibliographic coupling, co-citation, and co-authorship between LIS PhDs and their advisors. It would also be of value to examine in more detail why LIS PhDs improve their productivity in terms of publications when they engage in interdisciplinary collaborations.

Reference

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*HSKL��9HUVLRQ��*HSKL�&RQVRUWLXP��+ROPHV��%�� 3�� The domain of information

science, with an emphasis on contributing dis-ciplines: 1973 to 1998�� 14�� 3K�'�� 7KH�University of Western Ontario (Canada), Ann Arbor. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

+RXVHU��/��-��7KH�3KG�GLVVHUWDWLRQ�LQ�OLEUDU\�science. Library Research, 4(1).

-RKQVRQ��,��(GXFDWLRQ�IRU�/LEUDULDQVKLS�DQG�,QIRUPDWLRQ�6WXGLHV��¿W�IRU�SXUSRVH"�Information Development, 25��±��

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