An Empirical Evaluation of Research on “Library Management” at the Doctoral Level in India: A Study of the Last 50 Years from 1971 to 2020

1 Introduction

In India, Library and Information Science (LIS) education has been around for a century (Kumar & Sharma, 2010). It has progressed from a small beginning as short-term training courses to a country-wide network of universities, colleges, research organizations, professional associations, and other institutions that offer Certificates, Diplomas, Postgraduate Diploma, Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, MPhil, PhD, and even D.Litt through regular and distance modes (Joshi, 2010).

As predicted by Asundi and Karisiddappa (2007), India would rank among the top five countries in terms of output and contribution to the development of thought content among the countries that offer LIS education. This prediction is yet to be validated through proper stats but qualitatively LIS education in India has been a front-runner, particularly among developing countries creating a fair educational environment. According to Eisenberg, Trombly, and Ruth (1988), a strong combination of traditional domains and IT innovations is observed in India, as indicated by PhD theses produced by the LIS departments of Indian universities. The foundation of professional research in LIS in the world began in the twentieth century in 1920 at the LIS school of the University of Chicago (Satija, 2010). In India the first PhD in LIS was produced under the guideship of S. R. Ranganathan (Kumar & Sharma, 2010). There have been some empirical studies (Chandrashekara & Ramesh, 2009; Kumar, 1987; Sharma, 1997) as reported by Satija (2010) regarding the growth, status, and topics of PhD dissertations from Indian universities. Bibliometrics studies are top in those dissertations while the research in fundamental areas of LIS practices was the least reported topic.

2 Review of Literature

Management is an important issue in the day-to-day activities of libraries and information centres (LICs). LICs have to look for issues in resource management that include both human and library collection, issues relating to financial management from budgeting to financial reporting, and issues relating to IT and copyright management. Only LIS professionals can understand the importance of various managerial issues relating to the functioning of modern LICs regardless of their size and collection. Most of the theories on library management are inspired by the general management schools of thought viz. classical, behavioural, quantitative, system, and contingency. Research in these areas is important to highlight the practicality and problem-solving issues in managerial practices. Wilkinson (1983) opined that if librarianship aspires to become a profession, it should depend upon research to develop its knowledge base and its theoretical framework. Evaluation of a PhD thesis using theories of scientometrics is a prominent domain of LIS research. Such studies help to understand multifaceted research problems like core journal readership of a particular institution (Simte & Phuritsabam, 2021), citation half-life of journals from a particular discipline (Gayan & Singh, 2019), reference accuracy of citations (Gupta, 2020), and growth of research in a particular topic (Borgohain, Zakaria, & Verma, 2022).

Modern LICs have to take problem-solving objective managerial decisions benefiting both the library and the parent institutions. The possible gap areas in LIC management include the areas of technology use and service implementation, staff mobility and managerial attitudes, and flexibility to innovate and change (Brockman, 1997). The issues of applicability of operations research principles in effective communication and solution interpretation were identified by Rowley and Rowley (1981). Mahapatra (1980) reported on the wonderful possibilities of the system approach of scientific management in Library administration and operations. Budget and budgetary control, cost accounting and cost control are important parts of any industrial administration and in library administration, this has been often overlooked because most libraries draw their finance from public funds (Ranganathan, 1967). Even though the research dynamics in LIS at the doctoral level in India has made significant contributions in various facets of classification, cataloguing, document usage and reference service, documentation, library organization, etc. (Neelameghan, 1967), issues like library finance, cost–benefit analysis of library services, marketing of library products and services, networking, resource sharing, and total quality management should not be left out from the list of research priority (Lahiri, 1999). Moreover, modern LIC management involves activities of human resource management like job analysis, wage structure, staff pattern, and technological competencies.

Dissertation growth studies are important for subject areas like LIS where journal and article counts are less compared to established areas like applied sciences (Andersen & Hammarfelt, 2011). Therefore, in recent times there have been several studies concentrated on LIS research at PhD level. Studies show greater growth of LIS research in India after 2000 onwards (Maity & Hatua, 2015; Mundhial, Sahoo, Dash, & Mohanty, 2020; Pandita & Singh, 2017). Maity and Hatua (2015) reported on the strong research base of library management in the southern universities of India. The study also reported on the lack of research space in foundational areas of LIS, and a shift towards more tech-savvy areas is observed in recent times. Similar findings were also reported by Mundhial et al. (2020), as they found areas like Information seeking behaviours, ICT application in libraries, and Management of LICs as common topics of research at the doctoral level and grey areas of LIS like classification, preservation, conservation, intellectual property rights as least focussed areas. Pandita and Singh (2017) reported that even though LIS research in its comparison has seen growth between 2010 and 2014 compared to other social sciences, LIS theses were just 3.04% in that period, urging the necessity of LIS research for the functional growth of the subject. The study also reported the stronger growth of doctoral theses from LIS departments of the Indian states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra as being the most productive. There have been other such studies (Gupta & Bharadwaj, 2010; Singh & Babbar, 2014) that tried to reflect the gap areas of research at the doctoral level on the subject of LIS in India. Such studies are essential for the democratic growth of a subject field as research at the doctoral level is thought to be foundational for any subject field.

The current study aims to study the research dynamics that have been conducted in Indian Universities at the PhD level whose core area is library management. The study has been reported here in several sections viz. Sections 1 and 2 underline the status of doctoral research and the importance of library management studies; Section 3 describes the objectives of the study; Section 5 introduces the methodology; Section 7 reports the data analysis; Section 8 contains the major findings; and Section 9 reports the study conclusion.

3 Objectives of the Study

The study has been designed to address the following objectives:

1. To report statistics of doctoral research in the area of “library management” in India from 1971 to 2020.

2. To find out whether universities emphasize “library management” as a theme of doctoral research in India and to find if there is any correlation between PhD productivity with the age of the universities.

3. To study the geographic distribution of universities producing doctoral research in the area of “library management” and make a comparison of their productivity.

4. To find out the non-LIS departments doing research in the area of “library management” if there is any.

5. To identify the various sub-themes of “library management” explored in doctoral research in India.

4 Hypothesis of the Study

The following hypotheses were formulated to have more statistical conclusions to the set objectives,

H₀: “Library management” is a neglected area of research at the doctoral level and hasn’t grown in India during the studied period.

H₁: Research in the area of “library management” at the doctoral level is on growth during the studied period.

5 Methodology

Two central repositories of India viz. the INFLIBNET Shodhganga and the INFLIBNET INDCAT service were used as central data sources for the study. INFLIBNET Shodhganga (https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/) is a repository of PhD thesis awarded by Indian universities. Indian universities must submit an e-copy of the PhD thesis for the degrees awarded by them. While INFLIBNET INDCAT (https://indcat.inflibnet.ac.in/) is a union catalogue of Indian universities like the OCLC WorldCat service. So in combination, these two repositories work as central and authentic data sources for PhD theses at Indian universities. There have been studies using these repositories as authentic data sources. Vijayan (2020) studied the research in Progress in India using Shodhgangotri. Mir and Sevukan (2021) explored LIS thesis available in Shodhganga and studied their citedness.

For searching the databases, key terms like “library Management,” “library administration,” “management of libraries,” “library planning,” “human resource,” “personnel training,” “Library and information science,” “management,” and “library science” were chosen and individual search was carried out in the databases. The results obtained were then combined, duplicate records were filtered, and the theses which are associated with the areas of library management were taken into consideration for conducting the study. A total of 304 such thesis details were collected whose primary theme was associated with the area of library management. From this test dataset details of the theses on parameters like the Year, Title, University, and Assigned keywords were extracted in MS Excel. The period considered for the study is from 1971 to 2020. Later further analyses of the data were carried out to fulfil the objectives of the study.

6 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study is limited to the bibliographic data available on PhD theses on library management which are available at Shodhganga or have their catalogue information available at the INDCAT service. The researchers did not have physical access to the theses whose copies were not available in Shodhganga. The analysis was carried out based on bibliographic and abstract information available for the theses on the selected sites.

7 Data Analysis and Interpretation

7.1 Year-wise Growth of Theses

Bibliographic details of 304 doctoral theses produced between 1971 and 2020 were collected. Figure 1 reports the year-wise productivity and cumulative growth of PhD theses from 1971 to 2020 in a dual-axis graph. It is observed that the first thesis appeared in 1972 at Savitribai Phule University, Pune. There has been a high growth of PhD theses in the area of “library management” from 2010 onwards during the studied period, 2011 being the most productive one with 19 theses, followed by 2012 and 2013 with 18 and 19 theses, respectively.

Figure 1

Year-wise growth of thesis in the theme of library management.

7.5 Correlation of PhD Productivity with the Age of the University

Table 4 shows that around 47% of the total thesis output of the last 50 years in the area of library management is distributed among 15 universities, which are some of the oldest LIS departments in India. To find out the relationship between research productivity in the selected study area with the age of the LIS departments in the universities, a linear correlation study between the number of theses and the age of the LIS departments was done. The age was determined based on 2020 as the current year. The detailed findings are reported in Figure 2. The scattered points were sparsely distributed from the linear correlation line yielding a resultant R ² value of 0.118, which proves a small positive association of the research productivity at the PhD level in the area of library management with the age of the LIS departments in the universities.

Figure 2

Linear correlation line of thesis productivity with the age of the LIS departments.

7.6 Analysis of Universities in Geographic Zone Wise

Further analysis of the 89 universities that featured in the 304 theses produced during the study period was done based on their geographic location and the universities were distributed to five zones of India, i.e. Northern, Southern, Central, Western, and Northeastern zone as per the zonal map of India available at https://www.mapsofindia.com/zonal/. A detailed report of the analysis is presented in a multi-axis graph in Figure 3. It is observed that the highest number of institutions (total 24) featured from the southern zone with a total of 112 theses that produced the maximum number of PhDs in the area of “library management” and the least being the Northeastern zone with only 6 institutes featuring during the studied period. Interestingly, when comparing the average number of theses produced per institute, the Northeastern average stands equal with the Southern zone average, i.e. 4.67 theses per institution, enunciating the high productivity of the Northeastern universities in the selected area of study. The Northeastern and Southern zone average productivity of theses per institute also stands above the national average of 3.43, helping to infer the greater interest of research of the universities of these zones in the area of library management.

Figure 3

Zonal distribution of institutions with their average productivity level.

7.8 Subject Analysis of Theses Under the “Library Management” Theme

“Library management” is a broad topic and various sub-themes under it range from issues of personnel management, human resource management, financial management, total quality management, collection management, and many others. For this particular research work, the 304 theses were given a detailed reading of their abstract, title, and objectives. From there the thesis was categorized to fit 11 different broad areas under “library management” as identified in Table 6. The decade-wise trend of the selected core areas of research was also studied. Personnel management and Human resource management are the popular micro areas of research in the theses in the last 50 years. Prior to the year 2000, Library Administration, Library Planning, Financial Management, and Personnel Management were some topics of the theses, but after 2000, the number of theses on these topics has grown to a large extent. This can be associated with the practical problems LIS professionals face in modern LICs. Moreover, some emerging areas under “library management” like Total quality management, Library architecture, and Planning are finding popularity in recent times. The issues of Digital Library and digital resource management and the modern aspect of knowledge management are part of some “library management” themed doctoral dissertations. Figure 4 represents a detailed report of growth in each thematic area of research in the five decades that were studied.

Table 6

Metrics of micro-level research under “library management” in the last 50 years

Sl. No	Subject	1971–1980	1981–1990	1991–2000	2001–2010	2011–2020	No. of theses	Percentage
1	Library management	0	4	18	14	33	69	22.85
2	Personnel management	1	4	14	16	26	61	19.87
3	Human resource management	1	1	13	13	18	46	15.23
4	Library organization	0	5	8	13	12	38	12.25
5	Total quality management	0	0	0	9	19	28	9.27
6	Financial management	0	4	10	7	4	25	8.28
7	Library administration	0	2	7	7	2	18	5.96
8	Library planning	0	1	4	3	1	9	2.98
9	Library architecture	0	1	0	2	5	8	2.65
10	Digital library management	0	0	0	0	1	1	0.33
11	Knowledge management	0	0	0	0	1	1	0.33
Total		2	22	74	84	122	304	100

Figure 4

Growth of research under thematic research areas under “library management” in each decade of the study.

8 Major Findings of the Study

The study reports the following major findings:

1. In the last 50 years, 304 PhD has been awarded in the area of library management. The first thesis in the area of library management in India has been produced at Savitribai Phule University, Pune in 1972.

2. There has been a high growth of PhD in the selected subject area from 2010 onwards. Around 61% of the total theses have been produced after 2001, and out of that 38% have been produced after 2010. This shows that in recent times this area has got much importance as a research problem at the PhD level.

3. The 15 universities that have produced the most PhD in the selected study area are presented in Table 4. Library management has been a core research area of these top 15 universities, as these have shared almost 47.04% of all theses being produced during the studied 50 years. Gauhati University is at the top producing total of 13 theses (4.27%) in the selected area in the studied period.

4. Testing of hypothesis revealed that “library management” is a trendy topic of research in the last 50 years and is growing as a research subject.

5. A linear co-relation study of PhD thesis productivity in the selected study area with the age of universities was done, and the results reflected that scattered points were sparsely distributed from the linear correlation line yielding a resultant R ² value of 0.118, proving a positive association of the number of research productivity at the PhD level in the area of library management with the age of the LIS departments in the universities.

6. Study of the geographic distribution of universities for their productivity of doctoral research in the selected area revealed that Universities in the Southern Zone and Northeastern zones have been more productive with an average thesis of 4.67 per institute, which is well above the national average of 3.42. Total 24 universities from the southern zone with 114 thesis shred among them featured in the list of total 89 institutions in the studied period of last 50 years, helping to conclude the vast presence of LIS education in that part of India, while a high productivity average with just 6 institutions from Northeastern zone helps to conclude the fast growth of impactful LIS research from Northeast India.

7. Management is a multifunctional area and interest in other subject disciplines in the area of library management is reflected in doctoral-level research over the studied period of 50 years. Out of 304 theses, 24 theses were such which were from non-LIS departments. Detailed findings are reported in Table 5.

8. Micro-level topic trend analysis has yielded findings that human resource management, financial management, and personnel management have been classical areas of research under library management across time, while in recent times areas like total quality management, library architecture, and library planning are gaining importance. Detailed findings are reported in Table 6.

9 Conclusion

Research at the doctoral level goes through various stages of review that make its findings foundational in various subject domains. The theme of “library management” is an applied and practical field in LIS practices and research in this area is a necessity for the growth of the profession. This current study emphasized doctoral research in this very important aspect of the profession in the last 50 years in India. There has been a subsequent rise in research on “library management” in the subsequent decades of the studied 50 years’ period starting from 1971. The result from the one-sample t-test proved that research in the selected area has significantly grown during the last 50 years. A total of 89 Universities across India have conducted research on the “library management” theme till 2020. Universities in the Southern and Northeastern zones have higher productivity averages than the national average during the studied period. A positive correlation was found between the age of LIS departments with their thesis productivity rate in the area of library management. Moreover, there are 24 such theses out of 304 during the studied period, which were produced by non-LIS departments, helping to bring out the interdisciplinary prospect of research in the domain. Later, the theses were clubbed into 11 different micro-level areas under library management, and it was found that modern issues of the professions like personnel management, human resource management, library organization, and total quality management are gaining more importance in recent decades. The study also reports on the top five institutes of the last 50 years, which have produced maximum PhD in the selected area.

There can be multiple factors inside and outside academia for the rise of doctoral research in “library management,” but institutional productivity study reveals that older LIS schools are leading in this regard. It is expected that in the subsequent decades, there will be considerable growth in the research theme of “library management” in all universities across India. Also, the participation of non-LIS departments in research at the doctoral level is a good sign for future cross-domain research in this area. Finally, with the increasing number of institutions, it is also expected that LIS doctoral research would increase in the future.