Information sources used by postgraduate students in Education: A Citation Analysis of Masters’ Dissertations
Date
2012
Authors
Sakala, Gelvazio
Akakandelwa, Akakandelwa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Zambia
Abstract
This study used citation analysis to establish the types of information resources used by education master's students in writing their dissertations at the University of Zambia. Four thousand seven hundred and twenty-two (4722) bibliographic references in 85 dissertations from the period 2000-2010 were examined using variables: year of publication, author, source title, source format, subject, and place of publication. The results show that monographic resources were the most cited information formats followed by journals. Authorship pattern indicates preference for single authored works, followed by government publications. It was also noted that researchers in the education discipline cited other formats such as: Internet resources, manuscripts, theses, conference papers, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, radio and television broadcasting programmes. The findings give feedback to the University of Zambia librarians with regard to resources used by education masters' students during the period under review. These findings can be useful in guiding the University of Zambia Library acquisition department in the information resources selection process.
Description
Article Published in" Zambia Library Association Journal". vol.27, no. 1 &2. Pp.95-103. 2012