Mapping the health science librarianship research field in 2012 – 2022

Abstract

IntroductionEvidence-based practice is an important aspect of health science librarianship. However, good evidence-based practice can only occur if the body of evidence is also of adequate quality. By using bibliometric techniques to map the health science librarianship research field, one can better understand the properties of the evidence base in health science librarianship. MethodsThe Library Literature & Information Science Full Text database was used to generate a bibliography of publications pertaining to health librarianship limited to the time span of 2012–2022. Using Excel and Microsoft Power BI, a descriptive analysis was conducted. VosViewer was used to create a subject term co-occurrence map. ResultsThe average number of publications per year is 207.3 and it was trending downwards for 2012–2022. The most frequently assigned subject term was “survey”. The average number of authors per paper is 2.5 and was trending upwards. The subject term co-occurrence map identified 5 clusters of keywords, which were interpreted as major themes found in the body of literature.DiscussionThe 5 keyword clusters were interpreted as major themes found in the body of literature. The identified themes were professional development, measuring the value output of librarian services, measuring the return on investment of library resources, improving the quality of LIS research, and outreach to other library and healthcare institutions. This depicts the health science librarianship research landscape as one of collaboration, concerned with finding ways of demonstrating value, and connecting with other types of libraries and the public.