UGC NET Informetrics Phenomena

Cheatsheet Content

Informetrics Phenomena: UGC NET Overview Informetrics is a generic term encompassing librametry, bibliometrics, and scientometrics. It involves the use and development of various measures to study and analyze properties of information and documents. Knowledge of informetrics helps in selecting and building information source collections, improving library and information services, and efficient management of library and information systems. Objectives Understand Informetrics Phenomena and its specialized terminology. Appreciate the usefulness of informetric laws and their applications in library and information science. Recognize the occurrence of these phenomena in other subject fields. Informetrics in Science (Scientometrics) Application of statistical methods to the organization of science and productivity analysis. Many bibliometric and related phenomena are observed in science. Key Laws and Distributions Lotka's Law: Describes the frequency of publication by authors in a given field. Poisson Distribution: Describes the distribution of significant contacts between scientists in a subject field and "outsiders". Probability function: $f(x) = \frac{e^{-\lambda} \lambda^x}{x!}$ for $x = 0, 1, 2, 3, \dots$ where $x$ is the number of significant contacts, $\lambda$ is the mean number of contacts. Describes the distribution of citations to a paper over time. De Solla Price's Conjecture: "Half the successes (of scientific productivity) were due to the highest scoring elite comprising $\sqrt{P}$ of the individuals, meaning $\sqrt{P}$ authors produce at least half the total papers published by population $P$." Goffman's Epidemic Theory (1966): Models information diffusion (e.g., innovations) similar to the spread of epidemics. Differential equations for diffusion: $\frac{ds}{dt} = \beta SI - \delta S + \mu$ $\frac{ds}{dt} = \beta SI - \lambda I + \nu$ $\frac{ds}{dt} = \delta SI + \gamma I$ Where $S, I, R$ are continuous functions of real variable $t$; $\beta$ is infection rate (acceptance); $\lambda (\gamma)$ is susceptible and removal rate; $g(\nu)$ is rate of new supply of susceptible. Neelameghan and others (1970): Showed that the pattern of duplication (once, twice, thrice, etc.) of antibiotic discovery follows a modified Poisson Distribution. Square-Cube Law: From Biology (also in Management), applicable here for better prediction of duplication. Practical Applications of Informetrics Informetrics aims to develop statistical and mathematical techniques to evaluate and improve the efficiency of information services and their utilization. Applications in Collection Development Selection of core periodicals for subscription. Selection of infrequently used books and periodicals for withdrawal or placement in depositories. Archiving of less used electronic resources. Applications in Evaluating Services Assessing library/information service performance compared to other centers. Evaluating the scientific output of an author, institution, or country (e.g., citation analysis). These measures should be used in conjunction with qualitative measures. Categories of Informetric Studies Collection Adequacy: Measuring how well a library's collection meets present and future institutional program needs (prevalent in the 1950s-60s). Model Discovery: Developing mathematical and statistical models for phenomena in library and information work. Informetric studies help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of library and information services, aligning with S. R. Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science. Summary of Key Concepts Overview of Informetrics Phenomena, its usefulness, and applications of statistical methods. Historical development and terminology of informetrics. Principal classical bibliometric/informetric laws: Literature growth patterns. Obsolescence rate patterns. Success-breeds-success phenomena. Practical applications in library and information work and service. Hyperbolic Distributions (Bradford and Zipf) A class of empirical hyperbolic distributions. Characteristic: Product of fixed powers of variables is constant. Observed in various fields: economics, meteorology, psychology, linguistics. Fairthorne (1969) attempted to unify statistical distribution patterns based on Mandelbrot's research.