| A conceptual and relational analysis of descriptors, keywords, and abstracts of dissertations, completed between 2001-2006, pertaining to Library and Information Studies (LIS) revealed cultural and disciplinary patterns in LIS research. These patterns were analyzed in an effort to ascertain whether recent assertions by library practitioners that the curricula and research in the U.S. and Canadian universities, which confer the first professional degree for librarians, are divorced from the needs of practice.;Rooted in the conceptual anthropological framework developed by Tony Becher and Paul Trowler (2001) in Academic Tribes and Territories, the study examined the culture of LIS, examining disciplinary and faculty factors, in an effort to delineate the field's current parameters as a field of practice and an academic discipline. The sample was limited to a random sample of those dissertations completed between 2000 and 2006 at North American institutions that both offer doctoral programs in library and information science-related programs and confer the ALA-accredited Master's degree. |
