Users in Literature of Librarianship and Information Management

Abstract

In this paper, theses and articles on librarianship and information management focusing on users are studied. Masters and PhD theses along with articles published in the most important periodicals of the field, Türk Kütüphaneciler Derneği Bülteni (1952- 1986), Türk Kütüphaneciliği (1987-2006) and Bilgi Dünyası (2000- 2006), are examined. Some 42 out of 239 theses (17.57%) and 44 out of 1788 articles (2.4%) focused on users either directly or indirectly. The majority of such theses (88%) were written after 1990. Content analysis of theses indicates that users have been studied primarily in relation with an information center or system (69%); academicians as a user group was studied most often; survey as a research method was used in 83% of the theses; and, the questionnaire was the most popular data gathering technique. Although no articles emphasizing the users were published before 1971, a growing interest towards the users was detected in 1980s. The number of articles published on the subject significantly increased after 1990. Also, findings on articles indicate that students were the most frequently surveyed user group (40%); subjects such as information literacy and reading habits were studied the most while surveys, questionnaires and interviews were the most popular research methods and data collection techniques.