Research in health sciences library and information science: a quantitative analysis

A content analysis of research articles published between 1966 and 1990 in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association was undertaken. Four specific questions were addressed: What subjects are of interest to health sciences librarians? Who is conducting this research? How do health sciences librarians conduct their research? Do health sciences librarians obtain funding for their research activities? Bibliometric characteristics of the research articles are described and compared to characteristics of research in library and information science as a whole in terms of subject and methodology. General findings were that most research in health sciences librarianship is conducted by librarians affiliated with academic health sciences libraries (51.8%); most deals with an applied (45.7%) or a theoretical (29.2%) topic; survey (41.0%) or observational (20.7%) research methodologies are used; descriptive quantitative analytical techniques are used (83.5%); and over 25% of research is funded. The average number of authors was 1.85, average article length was 7.25 pages, and average number of citations per article was 9.23. These findings are consistent with those reported in the general library and information science literature for the most part, although specific differences do exist in methodological and analytical areas.