Dissertation Information for Sarah Scott Gibson NAME: - Sarah Scott Gibson
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- Case Western Reserve University (USA) (1975)
ADVISORS: - Phyllis A. Richmond
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Jesse H. Shera - Genevieve Miller - Dorothy Melville Sinclair
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: The exchange Literature of regional scientific societies
Abstract: This study investigates the literature produced
by those societies defined as general and
regional as distinct from those having a broad
national base and from those that are primarily
oriented about a single subject. It attempts to
determine what role is played by these regional
societies and their pUblications in the ffusion
of scientific information. Exchange is one of
the primary means of distribution of their
publications and lS regarded as a subunit of
the scientific communication systern, fnd an
attempt is made to explain its rsistence. LIThe genesis and evolution of the societies
and their journals from their inception in the
seventeenth century is reviewed, as is the
development of the exchange system. To obtain a
narrower focus, four representative societies
were chosen for study: the Denison Scientific
Association, a college-affiliated society; the
Rochester Academy of Science, a regional
organization with a city base; the Ohio Academy
of Science, a state-wide organization; and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, ~
scientific museum. The subject areas of their
respective publications were delineated, and an
attempt was made to establish the status of
their authors within the scientific community,
using a predetermined set of criteria. To
ascertain the degree to which the exchange
journals are Visible and used, both obtrusive
(questionnaire) and unobtrusive (citation
counting) measures were used. The continued survival of thls type of
scientific literature suggests that at present
scientlflc research needs more outlets
than_those provided by I1core ll journals. In
addition, the exchange journals appear to,
serve several other functions. They provide visibility for
those who publish in them and prestige for
their sponsoring organizations; they serve as
repositories for regional scientific
information; they operate as vehicles for
scientists beginning their publishing careers;
and they act as counterweights to what some
scientists view as overspecialization in
science. The findings further strongly suggest the
existence of a two level usage of scientific journals,
one for exchange journals and one for subscription
periodicals, and cross-citation between the two
types is limited. The existence of these two
paths of usc should be confirmed with larger samples, preferably with as much of
the total corpus of scientific exchange
journals as possible. The reasons for such a
divergence need more investigation by means
more subtle than study of citatlon patterns.
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MPACT Scores for Sarah Scott Gibson A = 1
C = 21
A+C = 22
T = 1
G = 1
W = 1
TD = 1
TA = 0
calculated 2008-04-09 14:42:22
Advisors and Advisees Graph
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