A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Productivity of Librarians Published in Library and Information Science Journals Available in Academic Libraries in Imo State, Nigeria, 2004-2013

This research paper studied the bibliometric analysis of research productivity of librarians published in library and information science journals available in the academic libraries in Imo State, 2004-2013. The methodology applied in the present study is bibliometric analysis. A total of 119 journals and 1,022 articles published within the time frame available in the libraries studied were analyzed to achieve the objectives of the study. Simple tables and percentages were used to analyze the data collected for the study. Findings of the study showed that Imo State University has the highest number of journals which is attributed to the presence of a library school in the institution though the numbers available are generally low; library and Information Communication Technology (ICT) is the most researched area; most of the articles were authored by single authors, librarians working in universities published more than their counterparts mainly for the fact that their promotion depends on their number of publications quite unlike their counterparts in other institutions of higher learning; librarians working in tertiary institutions in South East published more and journal sources are cited more than other information sources. Based on the findings, the researchers made some recommendations which included; acquisition of adequate number of library and information science journals by tertiary institutions, librarians should carry out researches in those areas of librarianship, multiple authorship should be encouraged, increased research productivity by librarians in polytechnics and colleges of education and librarians from other zones apart from South East etc.

Keywords: Bibliometrics, Subject Coverage, Citation Pattern, Institutional Affiliation, Geographical Distribution, Authorship Pattern, Library and Information Science, Journals).