Bibliometric Analysis of Library and Information Science Theses in the National Library of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Bibliometric analysis is crucial to grasp scholarly communication trends, thematic changes and knowledge organization within a field. The present study aims to examine the research trends in Library and Information Science (LIS) by analyzing the post-graduate theses stored in the National Library of Sri Lanka (NLSL). The main objectives are to explore trends in the subject, development of themes, distribution of languages, institutional involvement and time-based patterns in LIS research production. This study differs from the previous ones which followed descriptive statistical approach, as it studies the salient research themes in Sri Lankan LIS scholarship using keyword frequency analysis, title-word analysis, sub-topic categorization and keyword co-occurrence analysis. The methodology that was followed was quantitative bibliometric. A total of 73 doctoral theses, gathered from the NLSL collection between 1985 and March 2025, were analyzed. Institutional records and Koha library management system were used to get data. Analytical tools which were used were descriptive statistics, thematic categorization, title-word analysis, keyword co-occurrence mapping and trend analysis. The results indicate that English is the main language of research – almost four fifths of the theses are in English and Sinhala comes after that with a small share, while Tamil is not used in the theses at all. Thematic analysis reveals that the traditional LIS areas of university libraries, library services and collection management have been well represented, while emerging areas like digital libraries, research data management, artificial intelligence applications, information systems and knowledge management are poorly represented. The results of the analysis of the co-occurrence of keywords show that there is a strong thematic relationship between the conventional library service themes and the integration of technological themes and interdisciplinary themes is not high. It is concluded that, the research in LIS in Sri Lanka has not been evenly developed thematically, hasn't diversified much and doesn't pay enough attention to new research directions in the global arena. The research has added value to LIS field by offering a national level thematic bibliographical mapping of the LIS theses and the identification of the main research gaps from which the future academic and policy directions will arise.