A bibliometric analysis of the journal literature of academic librarianship as an indicator of professionalism

This study, suggested by and largely replicating a 1991 study by John M. Budd, investigated whether academic librarianship is a profession. The general research question posed was: "does a bibliometric analysis of this sample of the journal literature of academic librarianship demonstrate the existence of a mature and unique knowledge base that is one component of a profession?" This question was answered by applying four bibliometric measurements: (1) The Price's Index for the sample demonstrated an adherence to the "research front," providing support for the general research question. (2) The mean number of references per source article in the sample fell within the range specified as the "norm of scholarship," lending support to the general research question. (3) The percentage of references that were to other journal articles in the sample did not meet the threshold level and did not support the general research question. (4) The disciplinary self-citation rate for journal article citations in the sample was above the threshold level and lent support to the general research question.; Since the sample met only three of the four criteria above, the study does not fully demonstrate the existence of a mature, unique, and scholarly knowledge base and provides only limited support for the view of academic librarianship as a profession.; Comparison of the present study to earlier bibliometric analyses of the literature of librarianship (most especially Budd's 1991 study) revealed a high level of consistency in the studies, with most major differences likely being attributable to specific sampling decisions, e.g., narrowness of a sample drawn from only one journal title.