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Purpose: This paper seeks to clarify the research trend of library and information science (US) in Japan from 1970 to 2009. Methods: Of all the articles published from 1970 to 2009 in Library and Information Science and Journal of Japan Society of Library and Information Science, 826 research articles were examined. For each article, (1) authors, (2) topics, (3) research methods, and (4) the use of theories were analyzed. For (1), the number of authors of each article and the first author's affiliation and occupation were examined. Topics were classified into 14 US topics and these topics were further classified into "library science" and "information science". Empirical research methods were further divided into "data collection method" and "data analysis method". The number of research articles and the transition of the number of pages were also investigated. Results: Our findings indicate that in the US field over the last 40 years in Japan, (1) the number of authors whose affiliation is "university" has increased, (2) the number of "information science" articles has gradually decreased, and the majority of articles are now about "library science", and (3) the proportion of empirical research methods has increased. There were no major changes or distinctive trends in the topics discussed by articles. Due to the adoption of a strict peer-review system in both journals, the number of research articles decreased from the 1990s to 2000s; however, the number of articles has increased in recent years due to the increase in the number of graduate students and the enhancement of research grants in the US field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper clarifies the characteristics of theories on the strategic management of libraries in the United States, focusing on: 1) how strategic management concepts have been applied to operations or tasks in libraries, 2) the degree to which strategic management theories have an impact on them, and 3) whether library staff place a high value on the results of applying the theories. Methods: First, a set of strategic management theories to be investigated was selected from standard text- books of business administration and library management. Second, for each theory in the set, bibliography and bibliographic databases, Library Literature, LISA and LISTA, were searched in order to identify documents discussing it. Third, cases studies and bibliometric analysis were attempted based on the documents. In case studies, some actual cases of applying the theories to library management were extracted from documents, and how the theories were implemented in library operations and how they were evaluated by library staff were analyzed. On the other hand, in bibliometric analysis, the numbers of documents were counted by year, and chronological trends of popularity of the theories in libraries were empirically clarified. Results: The cases studies show that library managers in the US are particularly concerned about `planning' and `evaluation'. However, in most cases, it would have been difficult to progress from planning to practice. Also, library managers tend to select theories on administrative organization rather than those oriented toward the external environment. Although most management theories were not adequately implemented in the cases, only theories on core competence would have been accepted positively and incorporated adequately into practice in libraries. The bibliometric analysis clarified that the impact of management strategy theories is increasing each year, and new theories are being applied in library situations more quickly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite the rise of the Internet, both television and newspapers still play major roles as news, media. This paper clarifies the differences between television and newspapers as news media during the period of a general election campaign in Japan. Methods: News stories reporting on the election of The House of Representatives of Japan were analyzed using episodic or thematic news frames (Iyengar 1991). News was categorized according to the type of news and the type of frame. Results: News programs on television (NHK and five commercial broadcast stations) broadcast 172 news sto- ries during the 2009 election campaign (from 18 August 2009 to 1 September 2009). There were 386 news items in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper related to the election during the same period. The amount of coverage was large at both the beginning and the end of the election campaign. Television and newspapers showed similar tendencies. Moreover, no changes were observed between 2005 and 2009. Television news was composed of equal amounts of general news and featured news, while featured news accounted for about 80% of the news in the newspaper. On television, there were many episodic frames mainly portraying individuals involved in the election campaign. A large majority of newspaper coverage, however, dealt with theme frames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The evidence-based librarianship (EBL) approach promotes the application of re- search results to library services and at the same time, is a promising methodological frame- work for further improving the quality of research in library science. In this paper, the issues surrounding EBL and its application are discussed. Method: One hundred Japanese journal articles on library and information science were coded according to the level of their EBL evidence (one of seven levels), the three types of EBL questions, and the domain of the article as defined in the EBL approach. Results: Thirty three articles were identified as case studies (Level 6) and fifty three articles were identified as expert opinion (Level 7). Only two articles were coded as summing up (Level 2) which are said to have high EBL evidence. Thirty percent of the papers did not contain questions; therefore, they were not able to be assigned to one of the three types of questions. Fifteen of the articles were in the "collections" domain and twenty three were in the "management" domain; however, no articles were in the "marketing/promotion" domain. Since the concept of EBL is derived from evidence-based medicine (EBM), it can be difficult to apply it to articles in library and information science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance of and limits to Christine S. Bruce's relational approach in information literacy education. In information literacy education, the approaches that exist in the base of education have not been discussed adequately. In this paper, we review and analyse the characteristics of three approaches to information literacy education based on Bruce's classification: the behavioral approach, the constructivist approach, and the relational approach. The analysis is based on the perspective of the human user and information use. Because understanding human beings as members of society is important to examine education, which makes human beings acquire shared knowledge in a society, and the perspective of information use is important to examine information literacy, which is ability related to information use. As a result of our comparison, we suggest that Bruce's relational approach, which combines both human sense-making and the objects, overcomes the limits of the behavioral approach and the constructivists approach. Further more, we suggest that introducing a situational approach to Bruce's relational approach overcomes the limits of the relational approach and offers a new perspective on information literacy education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: "Health literacy" is the ability to obtain and use information in order to maintain one's health and to recover from disease. Health information providers should consider health literacy an integral part of health communication. Since "Health Literacy" was one of the objectives of Healthy People 2010 in the year 2000, research in the field of health literacy has flourished in the U.S. This paper attempts to emphasize both the necessity of health literacy research and the outline contribution of library and information science to health literacy in Japan through a literature review of the expansion of health literacy research in the U.S. and its introduction to Japan. Results: There were three turning points in health literacy research in the U.S.: a readability study for documents started in the 1970s; a measurement study of individual health literacy created and implemented in the 1990s; and a health outcome study after the year 2000. These previous studies indicate that the methods and accomplishments of health literacy research are recognized primarily based on the following health literacy research models: basic literacy and knowledge; narrowly-defined health literacy; and health outcomes. The backgrounds of the health literacy researchers vary, but do include library and information science. The results of the research have been reflected in the expansion of consumer health information services. In Japan, very little health literacy research has been conducted, although a portion of the definition of health literacy has been introduced to scholars in some health-related fields. Researchers' interest in the relationship between health information and the general public including patients has grown recently. Health literacy should be recognized as one of the important research agendas in human information interaction. In addition to health sciences and education, library and information science should contribute to health literacy research in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether journals covered by the Brandon/Hill List (B/H List journals) could be sorted out by specific evaluation items based on data that can be obtained publicly. Suppose B/H List journals were positioned in the higher rank by specific evaluation items or combinations of items, then B/H List journals could be predicted to some extent using the evaluation items. That is, it would enable us to guess the selection criteria of the B/H List based on those evaluation items. Although it would not be possible to know the real criteria, reasonable equivalents to the selection criteria of the B/H List could be attained using those evaluation items. Impact factor, cited number, citing number, number of articles, cited number/citing number rate, first-publication year, price, price per issue, number of libraries archiving the journal were used as the evaluation items. Data concerning these items were gained from public information resources. Cardiovascular system, internal medicine, and surgery were determined as sample fields from 46 fields of the B/H List 2001 edition. Journals from each field were selected from the journal list of the 2000 edition of Journal Citation Reports on CD-ROM Science edition (JCR). There were 63 cardiovascular journals (7 were B/H list journals), 94 were internal medicine (14 were B/H list journals), and 132 were surgery journals (7 were B/H list journals). In the evaluation items scamined in this study, it became clear that "number of libraries archiving the journal" and "impact factor" can sort out the B/H List journals to some extent. However, B/H List journals were not completely sorted out by the evaluation items used in this research. This result suggests the need for seasoning with the additional factors such as experience, the intuition and other personal knowledge of the librarian, which cannot be expressed as an objective numerical value, to create journal selection criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]