The Impact of Doctoral Research in Information Science and Librarianship

Contents

• Introduction
• Aim and definition
• Project description and methods of investigation
• The problem of information-gathering, and its relation to impact
• Research-related career advancement
• Publication as impact
• Citation analysis
• Outstanding impact of citations: two case studies
• Perceived benefits of doctoral research for the student
• Perceived benefits of doctoral research benefits for the Departments
• Conclusions and recommendations
• APPENDIX A - Research degrees in librarianship and information science: a survey of Master's and Doctoral students from the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield
• APPENDIX B - Questionnaire to students
• APPENDIX C - Questionnaire to Departments

The authors

Professor Mary Dykstra Lynch was formerly Director of the School of Library and Information Studies, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia and undertook the research described here during a period of study leave spent in Sheffield.

Professor Tom Wilson, at the time of the research, was Head of the Department of Information Studies. He is now Professor Emeritus, University of Sheffield and Visiting Professor at Leeds University Business School and the Swedish School of Library and Information Science, Gothenburg University and Högskolan i Borås

Acknowledgements

This research project was funded by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre. We gratefully acknowledge their financial support and, in addition, the efforts of John Burchell to retrieve the names of those who received Department of Education studentships for their doctoral research from 1981 to 1991. The care and diligence taken by the award-holders in responding to our questions is also acknowledged with thanks.

Without this assistance the project would not have been possible.