Journal of Library and Information Sciences

Citation Frequency of Research Output of Academic Librarians in Federal Universities in South Nigeria Using Google Scholar
Orji, Sotonye; Anunobi, Chinwe Veronica

Abstract
The World Wide Web has become an outstanding tool for the collection and dissemination of scholarly Information, and web indicators are designed not only to monitor the presence and impact of an individual or an organization in an online space but to promote a more open, global, societal, and detailed knowledge of the scholars‟ organization, activities and results. As such, citing the publications of academicians and linking each cited work to its abstract or the full paper provides a rather economical means of making such works accessible to others while improving the ranking profile of the University where such scholars belong. In order words, such scholars and their institutions become discoverable and visible to the wider Web audience. The paper examines the citation frequency as well as the h-index of the research output of academic librarians in federal Universities in the South-South region of Nigeria. Using Google Scholar, information was sort for 104 academic librarians from the five respective institutions in the region. Findings indicates a not so encouraging citation frequency as well as very low level of research impact arising from the h-index, thus implying relatively poor research output of academic librarians across institutions in the studied region. In the light of this finding, academic librarians are therefore encouraged to deposit outputs of their research in institutional repositories. University management should for all practical purposes expose their academic librarians to contemporary trainings/workshops on current trends in research methods and on-line publishing.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jlis.v7n2a1