Short-lived Technical Literatures: A Bibliometric Analysis

Much work has been completed on the application of quantitative measures to literatures dealing with the subject area devoted to ideas or concepts. Little or no work has been reported on the use of these techniques in an applied situation, on a literature devoted to a scientific product. This study attempts to apply the quantitative measures to such a literature and examine some of the implications of the results in terms of professional action on the part of the librarian or information scientist. Bibliometric techniques developed on long-lived literatures are applicable to short-lived literatures devoted to a sample of two pharmaceutical products.

Über die Anwendung quantitativer Meßmethoden auf Schrifttum, das sich mit Ideen und Konzepten befaßt, liegen zahlreiche Arbeiten vor. Dagegen gibt es kaum Arbeiten über die Anwendung solcher Techniken in praxi, auf ein Schrifttum, das sich mit wissenschaftlichen Produkten beschäftigt. In dieser Studie wird versucht, quantitative Meßmethoden auf derartiges Schrifttum anzuwenden und einige der Folgerungen aus den Ergebnissen zu untersuchen, wie. sie sich auf die berufliche Tätigkeit des Bibliothekars oder des Informationswissenschaftlers auswirken. Für langlebiges Schrifttum entwickelte bibliometrische Techniken lassen sich auch auf das kurzlebige Schrifttum einer Stichprobe von zwei pharmazeutischen Produkten anwenden.

Key-words

Bibliometric Study - Drug Information - Information Betrieval

Schlüssel-Wörter

Bibliometrische Studie - Arzneimittelinformation - Information Retrieval

• References

• 1 BRADFORD S. C. Documentation. ( London: Crosby Lockwood; 1953. ).
• 2 BROOKES B. C. Bradford's Law and the Bibliography of Science. Nature 224 ( 1969; ) 953-956.
• 3 DONOHTTE J. C. Understanding Scientific Literatures: A Bibliometrie Approach. ( Cambridge: MIT Press; 1973. ).
• 4 GASTON J. Originality and Competition in Science. ( Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1973. ).
• 5 GHOSH J. S. Content Representation in Document Titles: A Case Study with Prostaglandin Literature. Aslib Proc 26 ( 1974; ) 83-86.
• 6 GOFFMAN W. Mathematical Approach to the Spread of Scientific Ideas: The History of Mast Cell Research. Nature 212 ( 1966; ) 449-452.
• 7 GOFFMAN W. A Mathematical Model for Analyzing the Growth of a Scientific Discipline. J. Ass. eomput. Mach 18 ( 1971; ) 173-185.
• 8 GOFFMAN W, WARREN K. S. A Mathematical Analysis of a Medical Literature: Schistosomiasis 1852-1962. In Cheshire R. (Edit.) A Symposium: Information in the Health Sciences Working to the Future. Cleveland Medical Library Association of the Cleveland Health Sciences Library; Dec. 3-4 1969
• 9 GOFFMAN W, WAHREN K. S. Dispersion of Papers among Journals Based on a Mathematical Analysis of Two Diverse Medical Literatures. Nature 221 ( 1969; ) 1205-1207.
• 10 GOFFMAN W, WARREN IC. S. The Ecology of the Medical Literatures. Amer. J. med. Sei 263 ( 1972; ) 267-273.
• 11 LOTKA A. The Frequency Distribution of Scientific Productivity. J. Wash. Acad. Sei 16 ( 1926; ) 317-323.
• 12 MEADOWS A. J. Communication in Science. ( London: Butterworths; 1974. ).
• 13 PAO M. A Quality Filtering System for Medical Literature. J. med. Educ. SO ( 1975; ) 353-353.
• 14 PRICE D. J. de Solla Networks of Scientific Papers. Science 149 ( 1965; ) 510-515.
• 15 PRICE D. J, de Solla BEAVER D. de Collaboration in an Invisible College. Amer. Psychol 21 ( 1966; ) 1011-1018.
• 16 PRITCHARD A. Statistical Bibliography or Bibliometrics. J. Doc 2S ( 1969; ) 348-348.
• 17 WARREN K. S. Schistosomiasis: The Evolution of a Medical Literature. ( Cambridge: MIT Press; 1973. ).
• 18 WORTHEN D. B. The Application of Bradford's Law to Monographs. J. Doc 31 ( 1975; ) 19-25.
• 19 WORTHEN D. B. Clinical Drug Literature: A Bibliometrie Analysis. Unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation. ( Cleveland, Ohio: Case Western Reserve University; 1976. ).
• 20 ZIMAN J. M. Information, Comminieation, Knowledge. Nature 224 ( 1969; ) 318-324.