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Annals of Library Science and Documentation 1986, 33(1-2), 1-12

AN ESSAY ON INFORMETRICS: A STUDY ONGROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Examines the scope of 'informetrics' in relationto metric studies of infonnation and publica-tions such as bibliometrics, scientornetrics andlib ram e tries. Suggests a comprehensive defi-nition of informetrics to cover all aspects ofstudy given in definitions of other writers,particularly Morales. Gives a brief account ofthe growth of literature in informetrics. Surveysmeasurement techniques in a number of areassuch as growth of literature, efficiency scalefor a) document supply, b) translations, c)bibliographies, d) SDI services, e) informationproducts and services. Mentions the usefulnessof information in decision making.

Man invented methods of measurement perhapsat the very dawn of civilisation to meet hisday-to-day needs. In the beginning, measure-ment was related mainly to length, breadth,weight, and volume. With the progress of civilisa-tion, man understood the concept of time, andinvented devices to measure it. As science pro-gressed, need arose to measure innumerablephysical phenomena like heat, light, electricity,and so on. Devices were invented and standardsof measurement were determined for all.

For a long time measurement was the fieldof study mainly of physical scientists and mathe-maticians. Gradually, it started spreading toother areas. Slowly various measurementmethods sprawled to social sciences as well,and subjects like econometrics and sociometriesdeveloped.

The studies on 'informetrics' started wayback in 1896, when F Campbell advanced theidea for the first time of the scattering ofinformation [1]. However, he did not coin anyterm for such studies. Cole and Eaeles in theirpublication on the history of comparativeanatomy analysed the literature on the subject

Vol 33 Nos 1-2 March-] une 1986

T.N. RAJANB.K. SEN

INSDOCNew Delhi 110067

applying statistical methods and called it 'sta-tistical analysis' [2]. Hulme used the term'statistical bibliography' in 1923 for suchstudies [3]. Ranganathan used the term 'Iibra-metric studies' [4]; he implied the measure-ment of various library activities and servicesusing mathematical and statistical techniques.

Pritchard coined the term 'bibliometrics'to denote a new discipline where quantitativemethods were employed to probe scientificcommunication processes by measuring andanalysing various aspects of written docu-ments [5]. The term 'bibliometrics' has foundwide acceptance.Diverse interpretation of theterm have been put forward by some authors[6]. Schinidmeir defined it as the application ofmathematical methods to bibliographical, infor-mation and library activities [7]. Kerius [8],Lawani [9], Hjerppe [10] also tried to showrelationship of bibliometrics with library andinformation science and in certain cases withscience of science. We shall also discuss aboutth~ definition and scope of bibliometrics laterin the article.

In 1979 Nacke for the first time, definedinformetrics as 'the application of mathematicalmethods to the investigation of informationscience objects, with the aim of describing andanalysing their properties and laws in orderto optimise these objects in decision making[11] . This definition is inadequate, as the defini-tion . considers only the investigation of 'in-formation science objects' and not informationscience activities and information itself. Accor-ding to the definition, informetrics aims to des-cribe and analyse properties and laws of infor-mation science objects.

It needs to be pointed out here that infer-metrics not only describes and analyses theproperties and laws of information scienceobjects, but also establishes laws employing

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mathematical and statistical methods relatingto the growth, propagation, use 'and decay ofinformation. Morales defines informetrics 'asthe metric discipline concerned with the studyof mathematical and statistical r:\lethods andmodels and their application to che quanti-tative analysis of the structure and propertiesof scientific information and the patterns andlaws of scientific communication processesincluding identification of the laws' proper'f12] .

According to Morales, informetrics isconcerned with the study of mathematical andstatistical methods and models and hence isan integral part of mathematics. However,we feel that informetrics should be concernedmainly with the application of mathematicaland statistical methods and models to measurethe diverse aspects of any subject/discipline.Indeed in the application of these methods andmodels to various subjects, a knowledge of thesubject is a prerequisite or required at an equalmeasure with the methods of application.Specific courses on mathematical methodsand models would be forming part of a courseof study on informetrics when inforrnetricsis fully developed as an independent discipline.

The next point in Morales' definition isthe analysis of the structure and properties ofscientific information using mathematicaland statistical methods and models. Now,the question arises should we only analyse thestructure and properties of information withoutany objective? If not, then what is the objective?The objective is missing in the definition. More-over, Morales considers only scientific informa:tion * in his definition. Some laws like the law otscattering of publications and law of obso-lencence of publication are based on scientificpublications. If these laws are exte~~ed to n~)ll-scientific publications (e.g. humanities publica-tions) they may fail. But, laws relating to thepropagation of information may be equallyapplicable to non-scientific publications as theyare applicable to scientific publications. Theway the efficiency of scientific informationsystems, services and products can be studied,the same methods can be employed for non-scientific information systems, services and

*Scientifie information here is construed as=information relating to science in the conven-tional meaning of science, as is understood inmost u/estern countries,

products. It is not necessary that all laws per-taining to a fie1-{ of knowledge should be equallyapplicable to all its branches. Some laws willbe applicable to all its bi .mches and some willhave restricted applications. We can take theexamples from biology. Here some laws areequally applicable to both plant and animalsciences, and some are applicable only to plantsciences or animal sciences. For, the growth ofanimal body takes place according to a fixedpattern which is not the case with plant bodies.Animals always inhale oxygen and exhalecarbon-di-oxide, but the plants do the same atnight, reverse during the day. Nevertheless,both plants and animals are covered by biology.Hence informetrics also should cover scientificas well as non-scientific information.

From the foregoing discussion, it is dearthat both the definitions suffer from certainlimitations. We are trying to put forward ano-ther definition covering all aspects of inforrne-tries, We, however, do not claim that our defini-tion is absolutely free from limitations. Wehave only tried to, remove obvious limitationsand to make the definition comprehensive.We intend to define informetrics as that branchof knowledge which employs mathematicaland statistical techniques to measure publica-tions and concepts, their growth, propagation,use and decay of information; establish lawsgoverning these factors, and study the effi-ciency of information systems, services andproducts, as well as explore the intra - andinterrelationship of disciplines. The main objec-tive in metric studies of information (conceptsand documents) are to provide processed dataleading to reliable indicators for a) researchand development in all disciplines, b) policymaking and planning, and c) management ofinstitutions, projects, programmes and acti-vities.

Now, let us examine this definition keepingin view the eleven aspects of informetricsenumerated by Morales. The eleven aspectsenumerated by Morales are:-

"i) quantitative growth of literatureii) information obsolescence and scat-

tering - ;' ,iii) efficiency of information products

and services in science, technologyand production

iv) efficiency of information systems andinformation establishments in general

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ESSAY ON INFORMETRICS

v) the role of different kinds of docu-ments as means of scientific communi-cationthe role of information channel inscientific communicationinformation relevance and pertinenceranking of periodicals and serialsby various parametersoverlapping of subject contents bet-ween periodicals and serialscitation habits of scientists and thegrowing role of citation analysisintradisciplinary and interdisciplinaryrelation as determined on the basisof bibliographical reference."[ 12)

vi)

vii)viii)

ix)

x)

xi)

The. growth aspect of literature has beentaken well care of in our definition. The secondaspect relates to information obsolescenceand scattering. This aspect has been covered bythe term propagation and decay. These termsare obviously more comprehensive than obso-lence and scattering.

The third and fourth aspects cover theefficiency of information systems, services andproducts. These also have figured in our defini-tion. .

The fifth and sixth aspects relate to therole of documents as well as information chan-nels in scientific communication. Documentsand other information channels are, in fact, themeans of propagation of information. Hence,they are well-covered in the definition.

The seventh aspect deals with the rele-vance and pertinence of information. Therelevance and pertinence of information areinvariably linked with the use of information.This aspect has also been included in the defi-nition.

Ranking of periodicals and serials andoverlapping of subject contents in periodicalsand serials (aspects viii &. ix) are again thephenomena of propagation.

Citation habits of scientists is the mani-festation of the use of information. It maybe argued that all the articles cited by a scien-tist in an article might not have been used byhim. In many cases this may be true. To whatextent this is true, inforrnetrics attempts tofind out that. Even though, some articles etcreferred by a scientist have not been used byhim, but he refers to these documents with theintention that others may use them. So, citationhabit reflects two things:

Vol 33 Nos 1-2 March-June 1986 \

i) documents used by the citer andii) documents may be used by others

Citation analysis (aspect x) is a methodemployed in informetrics for determiningthe propagation, use, decay etc. of information.Determination of intra- and interdisciplinaryrelations has also been covered in our defini-tion.

Moralesj lZ] considers informetrics as ascientific in:formation aCtiVlty. Some lawslike the law of scattering of publications andlaws of obsolescence of publications are basedon scientific .publications. If these laws areextended to .non-scientific publications (e.g.humanities publications) they may fail. But,it has already been mentioned that laws rela-ting to the propagation of information may beequally applicable to non-scientific publicationsas they are applicable to scientific publications.

RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER SUBJECTS

lnformetrics and Bibliometrics

Informetrics and bibliometrics seem to be veryclose to one another. Etymologically biblio-metrics is composed of two distinct parts, i.e.biblio and metrics. The prefix biblio is a loanword from Greek and means book, and the suf-fix metrics, coined from the Greek word 'rnetri-k~s' means the science of meter i.e. measure-ment. Combining the two, we find that biblio-metrics connotes the science of measurementpertaining to books. In our context, we canreplace the word 'book' with 'document' andbibliometrics turns out to be the science ofmeasurement relating to documents, especiallythe number of documents; whereas informetricscover the metric studies relating not only todocuments put also to concepts. As such biblio-metrics becomes a subset of inforrnetrics.Informetrics comprises informetric studies per-taining to all disciplines.

lnformetrics & Librametrics

Library science is a well-recognized disciplineand the metric studies pertaining to libraryscience can be termed as librametrics. Variouslibrary activities are measurable. For example,the average number of books, that a person canclassify, catalogue, accession, or even shelvewithin a given span of time (e.g. an hour, a day

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etc) can be determined. Similarly, the averagetime required for charging or discharging a book,writing a call number on the book, puttingvarious labels and stamps on a book, all canbe determined employing mathematical andstatistical techniques. The number of booksissued or the number of queries answered perday can also be measured. Here the term bookcan be used, because till now, books remain themost predominant factor in libraries. In the caseof metric studies, what is true of books is alsotrue for other documents in a library. Thelibrary activities discussed above and certainother activities are measurable. All such libraryactivities as are measurable are encompassedby librametrics. The study of the numberof books issued, or the number of queriesanswered within a given length of time is cover-ed by librametrics as part of informetrics.

Informetrics & Scientometrics

Et&ymologically scientometrics means the studyrelating to the measurement of science. Sciencecan be measured from a number of points ofview like the production of graduates, post-graduates or Ph.ds of science; the establish-ment of research institutions, the institutionsof study and teaching of science; the deploy-mentof scientific manpower, brain drain;expenditure of R&D; founding of the mediaof scientific communication, e.g. primary andsecondary scinetific periodicals; scientific litera-ture; and scientific information systems, ser-vices and products. The metric studies of allthese aspects fall within the ambit of sciento-metrics. The area of scientometrics which dealwith scientific information is also coveredby informetrics. It is to be noted that a verylarge share of the literature of informetricspertain to scientometrics.

Growth of Informetrics

From the foregoing discussion, we find thatbibliometrics is an integral part of informetrics,part of librametrics and scientometrics are alsocovered by informetrics, In fact, metric studyof information pertaining to any field of know-ledge fall within the purview of informetrics.

The growth on informetrics can be measur-ed from the Bibliography of Ribliometrics andCitation Indexing Analysis published by theRoyal Institute of Technology. Library (Re-

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port TRIT A - LIB 2013) [13] and a supplementto this bibliography appeared in Scientometrics[14] and also a bibliography on the subjectcompiled by R Pal and others, INSDOC coveringthe period 1980-84 [15]. The graphical re-presentation of the literature indicates a steadygrowth and peak in 1977 and thereafter a slightfall and again a steady rise. According to Morales[12] the slight fall during 1977-1980 is due tothe fact that the coverage during the periodis not comprehensive. It should also be pointedout that the works of Eugene Garfield publishedin his Essays of an Information Scientist werenot included in the two bibliographies coveringthe period 1917 to 1980 [13,14].

MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES

Growth of Literature

Usually two methods are being followed in themeasurement of the growth of literature. If thesubject is broad, usually the number of entriesper year appearing in the secondary serviceson the subject is determined, and on thatbasis the growth is measured. For instance,to measure the growth of chemical literature,the number of entries in the Chemical Abstractsis counted for a specific period, the differenceof entries for the two successive years which isalways positive shows the growth. ChemicalAbstracts being a comprehensive service on thefield, there is little chance of any big error inthe computation of the growth. However,it must be pointed out that even the coverageof Chemical Abstracts is not cent per cent.A study of the coverage of Indian chemicalliterature in the Chemical Abstracts indicatedthat, the coverage on chemistry was about 90%and of chemical technology was about 60%only. When the coverage of Chemical Abstractsis nearing 6 lakhs items a year, even if severalhundred or thousand items are missed, it doesnot affect the computation of overall growthrate very much; of course, it affects the totalnumber. Most of the abstracting services in theworld are not so comprehensive as the ChemicalAbstracts. For example, Physics Abstracts,Mathematical Reviews, Excerpt-a-Medica, IndexMedicus are not at all comprehensive. Thecoverage of Indian literature in these servicesvary between 10% to 60% [16-18]. The cover-age from other developing countries may be stilllow. Measuring the growth basing anyone of

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these services in the respective fields may notgive a comprehensive and true picture.

Nowadays, many countries are bringing outtheir national abstracting or indexing services,India being one of them. The computation of ii)the growth of national literature basing on theseservices, may at times lead to grave errors.Studies r 19,20] have indicated that a great dealof Indian scientific contributions are beingpublished abroad. As such, they are not gettingreflected in the Indian Science Abstracts. Whatone finds in Indian Science Abstracts is not thetrue reflection of India's scientific contribution.

While measuring the growth of literature ona broad subject, it is always risky to depend on asingle international secondary service. Covering,of more services may yield better results, but v)there is huge amount of overlapping among thevarious services on the same subject which needsto be taken care of; otherwise, the figures willget terribly inflated.

When the growth is measured on a narrowsubject, usually several sources are consultedto prepare a bibliography. As such, duplicateentries are eliminated. This method is more orless a foolproof method.

Measurement of the growth of literature ona subject is different from the measurement ofthe growth of knowledge on the basis of litera-ryoutput.

When a person or a group is engaged inconducting research on a topic, they send awrite-up in the form of short communicationbefore the research is complete with a view toinforming others about the research work under-taken. As the research work progresses, a papermay be presented in conferences to have a dis-cussion on the topic to get a direct feedbackfrom the fellow scientists. Finally, when theresearch work is complete, a full-length paperis published which we may call the 'basic paper'.After the publication of the basic paper, thismay also appear in cover-to-cover translatedperiodicals. If we consider the contributionto knowledge, the basic paper alone serves thepurpose. Some learned comments may also addto knowledge. Even though several papers onthe topic have appeared, as far as the growth ofliterature is concerned, all the papers are to betaken into account. But for the growth of know-ledge, the full-length paper alone should betaken into account. Knowledge factor remainingconstant, the literary output grows for severalreasons, besides-those discussed above.

Vol 33 Nos 1-2 Marchjune 1986

i) Some technical reports also appear in theform of conference papers or researchpapers.

Papers presented in a conference sometimesalso appear in the form of articles inperiodicals.

iii) Some authors get the same article publish-ed in different journals with minor changeand no change.

(iv) An invention patented in various countriesof the world result in number of patentspecifications.

When a conference proceedings is abstrac-ted or indexed; an entry is given for theconference proceedings itself apart fromthe entries given for all the papers present-ed in the conference. As a result, the li-terary output gets an increase by onebecause of the entry for the conferencedocument.

For measuring the growth of knowledge,previews or short communications, comments(not contributing to knowledge), translations,conference paper/s, technical reports, resultingfrom the same basic paper should be excluded.

Efficiency of Information Systems, Services andProducts

The efficiency of information systems can bemeasured by taking into account the efficiencyof its information servicessud products.

Information services~:()mprise supply ofdocuments i.e. books, photocopies, microfilms,microfiche, etc.; translations; bibliographies;answers to queries; etc.

Efficiency of Document Supply

The efficiency relating to the supply of docu-ments can be measured in terms of time andthe number of documents supplied. The effi-ciency can be calculated on monthly basis.(Fig.l).

Efficiency of Translation Supply

The efficiency of translation service can bemeasured by taking into account the number

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Fig. 1: Efficiency Scale for Document Supply

Percentage of requesteddocuments supplied withina month

Efficiency

1 Above 90% Excellent

2. Between 75% to 90% Very good

3. Between 60% to 75% Good

4. Between 50% to 60% Fair

5. Below 50% Inefficient

of pages translated, the time taken for thesupply of translation, and the quality of trans-lation.

The time taken forlation depends mainly on

Now we can measure the overall efficiencytaking into account the quality percentage. Weshall discuss about the measurement of qualitylater in this article.

Second Case - Document available, but trans-lator not available with the agency.

In many cases, agencies get translationdone through panel translators. Sending thedocument to the panel translator, gettingthe translation back from him, and editing takestime. The entire process may take 15 to 20days. Taking into account this factor we canhave a scale for measuring efficiency (Fig.3).

Fig. 3: Efficiency Scale for Translation -2

the supply of trans- Time taken for supply oftranslation

d T I both Above 5 weeksFirst Case - Document an . rans atoravailable with the agency.

If the document is supplied by the useror available with the translation agency, andthe translator also is available with the agency,the time taken for translation is least. It canreasonably be expected that the translation ofa 10 page document (this we are taking as astandard) will be supplied in a week's tim~.The translation of a 10 - page document willoccupy about 25 to 30 typewritten pages.(Fig.2).

a) availability of the document to be trans-lated; and

b) availability of the translator

Fig. 2: Efficiency Scale for Translation - 1

Time taken for supplyof translation

Efficiency

Upto 7 days 60%

between 8-15 days 40%

Above 15 days

6

Efficiency

Upto 4 weeks 60%

between 4-5 weeks 40%

20%

Third case: Document not available, but thetranslator available with the agency.

In our country, almost centpercent demandfor translation is from foreign languages, andthe availability of the foreign language docu-ments is very low. As such, most of the foreignlanguage documents are to be procured fromabroad, which takes time varying from lessthan one month to more than one year. Basingthe experience of INSDOC, we can take theaverage procurement time of foreign languagedocuments as 10 weeks. For this scale, we areto add the procurement time alongwith thetranslation time. (FigA).

Fourth Case - Document not available, trans-lator not available with the agency.

20%

We can derive this scale simply by mergingEfficiency Scale - 2 with Efficiency Scale - 3.(Fig.5 ).

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Fig. 4: Efficiency Scale for Translation-S

Time taken for supply oftranslation

Efficiency

Upto 11 weeks 60%

between 11-12 weeks 40%

Above 12 weeks 20%

Fig 5: Efficiency Scale for Translation - 4

Time taken for supply Efficiencyof translation-- - ---- --- --- -------------

Upto 15 weeks 60%

Between 15-16 weeks 40%

Above 16 weeks 20%

When a translation is being supplied by aninformation/translation agency, it is expectedthat the agency will take some measu~e ofquality control. In other words, we take it forgranted that the translation supplied by arecognised agency will not be utter rubbishexcepting some extraordinary cases. As s~ch wegive an weightage of 40% for the quality. oftranslation. For the measurement of quality,we can have a scale. (Fig.6)

Fig. 6: OJ,t,ality Scale-- --- - ----_._--:-.- --------Satisfaction level Weightage

Highly satisfactory 40%

Satisfactory 30%

Tolerable 20%

Unsatisfactory 0%

Totally unsatisfactory 20%- r-- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - --

This scale can be attached to each piece oftranslation and the user may be requested toinform about his satisfaction level accordingto the scale.

Vol 33 Nos 1-2 March-junc 1986

For measuring the overall efficiency ofa piece of translation we are to take the helpof the specific Efficiency Scale applicable tothe situation and the Quality Scale.

Suppose, an order was placed for thetranslation of a 10 page German languagedocument into English. The document had to beprocured from abroad and the age~cy washaving the translator. The translatIon wassupplied in 10 weeks and the quality of trans-lation was found to be satisfactory. In this speci-fic case, Efficiency Scale No.3 is applicable.From the scale, we get the percentage of effi-ciency as 60%, and from the Quality Scale, weget the percentage of efficiency as 30%. So, theoverall efficiency adds upto 90%.

For measuring the overall efficiency,·efficiency has to be measured piece by piece;and then an average has to be calculated. Theaverage value has to be compared with theEfficiency Scale for Document Supply. Sup-pose the average works out to be 63%, compar-ing this percentage with the scale we find thatthe efficiency is good.

Allowances have to made for difficultlanguages like Chinese and Japanese, or lessknown languages like Romanian or Hungarian.For reverse translation also e.g. from Englishto German, or any other foreign languagesimilar allowances will have to be made.

The scales have been made taking a 10page document as standard. The time taken fortranslation is directly proportional to thelength of the document, to be precise, the nu~-ber of words in a document. If one week isoptimum for the translation of a 10 page docu-ment, then 2 weeks time will be optimum forthe translation of 20 page document and so on.This factor needs to be kept in mind, whilemeasuring the translation service.

Efficiency of Bibliographies compiled on request

The efficiency of bibliographies compiled onrequest may be measured in terms of exhaust i-vity, time taken for the suppl~, as we}l ,as therelevance of the documents included 10 thebibliography. The measurement of these ,oara-meters poses a number of problems. The eXL't:IS-tivity of a bibliography can be derermincdonly when an exhaustive bibliograply on, thetopic is compiled for the purpose of COr:1pansonwhich is highly time-consuming. The e.xhausti-

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vity is not measurable when the bibliography isselective. The time taken for the compilation ofbibliographies varies widely depending on manyfactors. If the bibliographer finds a good reviewarticle of the topic, the compilation of abibliography takes little time. On the otherhand the compilation of a bibliography willbe highly time-consuming on a topic, say on arare insect, whose literature is scarce and widelysparsed. The relevance of the articles, can bedecided only by an expert, or the user whoasked for the bibliography.

In the circumstances, it is better to elicitethe user's opinion on all the three parametersto measure the efficiency (Fig.7).

We can grade Highly satisfactory - 80%,Satisfactory - 60%, Tolerable - 40%, and un-satisfactory - 20% for calculating the efficiency.

Efficiency of the Answers to Queries

For measuring this, we have only two para-meters to take care of. They are (i) Time requir-ed for answering the query and (ii) the rele-vance of the answer to the query, and the sameefficiency scale as given in the Bibliographyservice can' be used here omitting the Exhaus-tivity parameter.

Efficiency of SDI ServicesFor SDI services also, the three factors res-ponsible for the determination of efficiency areexhaustivity, timeliness and relevance. Effi-ciency scales for measuring the service havealready been evolved, and it is measured on thebasis of the data obtained through feedbackcards.

Efficiency of Information Products

By information products we mean here currentawareness services, indexing services, express

information services, abstracting services etc.For measuring the efficiency of all these ser-vices, we are to consider the coverage, timeli-ness, ease of handling, and index in some cases.

a) Current Awareness Service

For current awareness service, the criteria forthe measurement of efficiency should be pri-marily the timeliness. Relevancy, despite beingan important factor, cannot be stressed tomuch because current awareness services inmany cases are directed for world users,who scan through the pages of the ser-vice to find if anything of his interesthas been published. We cannot also lay toomuch stress on exhaustivity, since exhausti-vity adds not only to the cost, but also to thedelay. So a current awareness service has ' tomaintain a balance between timeliness andexhaustivity. Now, the question arises, how tomeasure the timeliness? After the publication ofa periodical/serial, it takes from less than aweek's time to several months to reach theagency bringing out the service. However agen-cies can reduce this time by getting the photo-copies of the title pages of the documents byairmail. So for agencies, the measurement oftime should becounted from the date of issue ofthe document by the publisher, and for localcurrent awareness services, from the date ofreceipt of the publication in the library. If wetake 7 days as the transit time by airmail and15 days time for processing, printing, despatch-ing then three weeks time become optimum forcurrent awareness services being brought outby agencies. For the libraries bringing outcurrent awareness services, we are not takinginto account the transit time, because here themeasurement of time is from the date of receiptof periodical issue in the library. Here also

Fig. 7: Efficiency Scale for Bibliographic Service

Exhaustivity

Highly satisfactory

Satisfactory

Tolerable

Unsatisfactory

8

Timeliness Relevance

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Fig. 8: Efficiency Scale for Current Awareness Services

National/InternationalCAS Time lag

Efficiency

Less than 3 weeks

Bet ween 3 & 4 weeks

Between 4 & 5 weeks

80%

70%

60%

50%Between 5 & 6 weeks

Above 6 weeks Inefficient

for processing, printing, etc. we can take 15days time as optimum and have scales formeasuring the efficiency of CAS. Of course,some percentage, say 20% should be allottedfor such parameters as coverage, arrangementand index (Fig. 8).

b) Indexing Services

For reducing the publication delay, the CASin many cases reproduce the title page itself,and the same is arranged alphabetically by thetitle of the periodical. As a result, processingtime is reduced to the minimum. These servicesdo not lay much importance on exhaustivity.Timeliness is the main criterion for such ser-vices. For indexing services, exhaustivity beingone of the main criteria, cannot compete withthe timeliness of CAS. Moreover, indexingservices, in many cases, being voluminouspublications, have to arrange entries in a syste-matic way tor easy searching of required intor-mation. In addition, indexes are also providedfor multiple approach. All these require time.So, a time lag of two months seems to beoptimum for such services. We can have a scalefor measuring the timeliness of an indexingservice (Fig.9).

For measuring the exhaustivity, first of allan exhaustive list of. core and allied periodicalson the subject needs to be proposed. The listof periodicals covered by the service can becompared with the exhaustive list prepared forthe purpose. We can allot 60% for core periodi-cals, 30% for allied, and 10% for alien periodi-cals. Let us demonstrate the measurement withthe aid of an example. Suppose a service covers40 core periodicals out of 50, 210 allied periodi-cals out of 300 and some alien periodicals.

Vol 33 Nos 1-2 March-june 1986

Local CASTime Lag

Efficiency

Less than 2 weeks

Between 2 & 3 weeks

Between 3 & 4 weeks

Between 4 & 5 weeks

Above 5 weeks

80%

70%

60%

50%

inefficient

Efficiency of core periodicals40 x 100

80%- -- ------- -50

80% out of 60% allotted for core periodi-cals

60 x 80= ----- = 48%100

Efficiency for allied periodicals

=~Q<L x 100 = 70%300

70% out of 30% allotted for allied periodi-cals

30 x 70= ----- = 21%100

For allotting percentage for alien periodi-cals, discretion will have to be used, as it isdifficult to compile a list of alien periodicalswhich may go into thousands, and no service

Fig. 9: Efficiency Scale of Indexing Service- Time

Time Lag Efficiency

Less than 2 months 100%

Between 2 & 3 months 80%




Above 6 months Inefficient

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can afford to cover all, as it would not be cost-effective. Suppose, in this case 4% is given forthe alien periodicals then the total efficiencyfor exhaustivity adds upto 48% + 21% + 4% =73%.

The ease of searching is dependent on thearrangement of entiries in the text portion, aswell as the number and type of indexes provi-ded. For measuring the efficiency, marks willhave to be allotted for

Arrangement - ClassifiedAlphabetically subject-wiseNon-alphabetical subject

groupmg

Arrangement - any other

Indexes - Subject - exhaustivekey word

- any other

Author

Sponsor/ Affiliation

OthersSee and See also References

It is difficult to provide a general formulahere. Because an indexing service arrangedalphabetically subjectwise reduces to a greatextent the need for a subject index. Again,providing of various types of indexes dependsmainly on the subject of the service. For ex-ample, a geographical index for a geologicalservice is of great value, whereas for biologicalservice, a taxonomic index will be consideredhighly important.

For determining the efficiency, a question-naire may be designed allotting marks on itemslisted above according to the situation, andsurvey can be undertaken taking users as thesample.

Taking the average of the perc<;ntages fortimeliness, exhaustivity and ease a L searchingthe efficiency of a service can be determined.

c) Abstracting Services

For bringing out an abstracting service, apartfrom all the jobs done for bringing out anindexing services, the abstracting of all the itemsare to be done. Moreover, abstracting services

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are to provide multiple approaches dependingon the subject by way of indexes. Number ofindexes as well as depth of indexing is usuallymore in the case of abstracting services compar-ed to indexing services. Preparation of ab-stracts and various types of indexes and theirsubsequent printing obviously involve moreman hours and time. Most of the internationalabstracting services have computerised the pro-duction of indexes to a great extent and therebyreduced the time of index preparation a greatdeal. Taking all these factors into account, wecan add two months in each case to the Effi-ciency Scale of Indexing Services-Time toderive the efficiency scale of abstracting servicesfor time (Fig.10).

Fig. 10: Efficiency Scale of AbstractingService - Time

Time Lag Efficiency

Less than 4 months 100%

Between 4 and 5 months 80%




Above 8 months Inefficient

For measuring the exhaustivity and easeof search, the same procedure can be followedas described under indexing services.

d) Express Information Service

This service has originated from the USSR,where it is called Ekspress Informatsia. Thisservice is usually devoted to a very narrow buthighly important field of knowledge. All foreignlanguage recent contributions are chosen on thesubject, and a digest of the articles (about 1/3rdof the original size) is prepared in Russian.Introduction and other not very importantmatter are excluded and important formulas,illustrations, etc. are retained. This is done toobviate the need for going through the original.Each issue contains about eight to ten articles,and published four tiines a month. The timelag between the receipt of periodicals in the

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ESSAY ON INFORMETRics

library and the issuance of the express informa-tion service is about one month.

Like current awareness service in this casealso timeliness is more important compared toexhaustivity and quality. As foreign languagesare involved here, this factor has to be takeninto account while fixing the scale. As the num-ber of articles covered in an issue are only abouteight to ten, we can allot about two weeks timefor translation to the scale fixed for national!international current awareness service. Thequality of the digests can be measured in thesame way as in the case of translation.

METRIC STUDIES OF OTHER FACTORS

There are well-known methods for the study ofinformation about obsolescence, scattering,relevance and pertinence.

Hence they are not being described here.For the ranking of periodicals also, there arewell established methods. However the way,any Indian authors are ranking periodicals,there is much as one for improvement. Thisvery aspect has been dealt with in anotherpaper[21] e ,

INFORMETRICS & DECISION MAKING

The development of a country is closely inter-linked with its scientific and technological deve-lopment. The analysis of the scientific andtechnical information output of a countrycan identify areas which are weak and needboosting up.

The information agencies or libraries bring-ing out various information products and render-ing various information services can measurethe efficiency of the products as well as ser-vices to find out how much efficient or defi-cient a particular service or product is, andmeasures can be undertaken to remove thedeficiency.

Every year there is a considerable hike inthe subscription rate of periodicals which isproportionately far more than the increase inthe library budget for periodicals. Moreover,there is always demand for new periodicalsIn the circumstances, every year need arises todrop certain title to balance the number of titleswith the budget. The decision to drop certaintitles is taken rather arbitrarily. If a rank"list ofperiodicals is prepared at regular intervalsthrough the study, citation study, etc.; the

Vol 33 Nos 1-2 March-j une 1986

decision making regarding the dropping ofcertain periodicals becomes logical as wellas easy.

Given above are only some exampleswhere informetrics can be used effectively fordecision making. Informetrics is a developingsubject and it is hoped it will have much widerapplication in future.

REFERENCES

1. Campbell F: The theory of the national andinternational bibliography. London, 1896.

2. Cole F J, Eaeles N B: The history of comparativeanatomy. Pt 1- Statistical analysis of the literature.Science Progress 1917,11(44), 578-96.

3. Hulme E W: Statistical bibliography in relation tothe growth of modern civilization. London, 1923.

4. Ranganathan S R: Librametry & its scope. AnnSem 1949, 1, 285-301. See also Aslib Proceedings1949,1,102.

5. Pritchard A: Statistical bibliography or biblio-metrics? Journal of Documentation 1969, 25(4),348-9.

6. Hawkins D T: Unconventional uses of on-line in-formation retrieval systeins: On-line biblio-metric studies. Journal of the Ameri~ Societyfor Information Science 1977, 23(1). 13-18.

7. Schmidmeir D: Die vermittlung von Grundken-ntnissen in der Bibliometric als Voraussetzungfuer die Anwendung der Bibliometrie in dertechnischen Universitats bibliotheken. IATULProceedings 1978, 10,32-41.

8. Kerius S: Komplexe Analysen des dokumen-taten informations-aufkommens a1s eine Grund-lage zur retionellen Information-sversongung.Dokum/INforn. Schriftenr. Inbt. Informationsw.,Erfmdungsw. Recht. Techn. Eochsch. Itmenan1979, No.45, 219-42.

9. Lawani S M: Bibliometrics : its theoretical foun-dations, methods and application. Libri 1981,31(4),294-315.

10. Hjerppe R: 'An outline of bibliometric and citationanalysis. Stockholm, 1980.

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11. Nacke 0: Informetric : Ein nuer Name fuer 17.eine Disziplin. Nachrichten fuer Dokumentation1979,30(6),219-26.

12. Morales M: Informetrics and. its importance.International Forum of Information and Docu-mentation 1985, 10(2), 15-21. 18.

13. Hjerppe, Roland: A bibliography of bibliometricsand citation indexing and analysis. Royal Instituteof Technology Library Report TRITA - LIB-2013.1980. 19.

14. Supplement to a 'Bibliography of bibliometricsand citation indexing analysis, TRITA-LIE 2013.Scientometrics 1982,4(23),241-73.

15. Pal R, Roy S B, Sen B K: Bibliography on biblio-metrics 1979-84: a world survey. (unpublished).

16. Rajagopalan T S, Sen B K: Reporting of Indian 21.physics literature in Physics Abstracts. Annalsof Library Science & Documentation. 1964,11,87-95.

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Rajagopalan T S, Sen B K, Gogia K L, Gera J C:Reporting of Indian mathematics literature in theMathematical Reviews & Bulletin Signletique.Annals of Library Science & Documentation1965,12(3),137-50.

Sen B K, Gera] C, Gogia K L, Rajagopalan T S:Reporting of Indian medical literature in IndexMedicus and Excerpta Medica. 'Annals of LibraryScience & Documentation 1966, 13(1), 1-24.

Guha B, Gupta A K, ]osepth A, Kachroo M L:Scattering of articles by Indian authors in foreignperiodicals - sample survey. Annals of LibraryScience & Documentation 1965, 12(2),76-86.

20. Mehrotra K, Lamcaster F W: Where Indian scien-tists publish? Current Science 1984, 53(13),684-8.

Sen B K, Narendra Kumar: Indian contributionsin bibliometrics - a review. (Paper presented in XVIASLIC Conference, 1985).

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