The Changing Landscape of Digital Library Services Research: A Comparative Study of Two Periods (1994–2023)
Keywords:
Bibliometric analysis, Library service, Digital library service, Digital libraries, BiblioshinyAbstract
This research employed a bibliometric analysis to investigate the trends and development of digital library service publications in the Scopus database over two distinct periods time: 1994–2008 and 2009–2023. A total of 415 related articles were analyzed (199 documents in the early period and 216 in the later period). The study was conducted using the Bibliometrix-R package in RStudio to analyze and visualize the data. The research aimed to compare the publication output, citation frequency, research themes, and patterns across the two periods. The results revealed a slight increase in the number of publications in the later period, while the citation frequency significantly declined. The United States remained the most prolific country in this research domain throughout both periods. The International Journal on Digital Libraries and The Electronic Library were the leading publication sources in the respective timeframes. In addition, the study identified patterns of co-occurrence and thematic evolution of key research topics, including digital libraries, information services, metadata, user experience, and service quality. The findings offer practical insights and serve as a guideline for future research and development in digital library services.
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