Abstract:

Purpose: This study aims to conduct a citation analysis on master's theses completed at Çankırı Karatekin University, Department of Information and Records Management (ÇAKU-DIRM). Method: Within the scope of the study, citation analysis was carried out on a total of 4,365 citation data (language of publication, type of source, author(s,) and half-life) collected manually from the bibliography section of 37 master's theses completed in ÇAKU-DIRM between 2017 and 2021. In addition, the number of pages, publication year, thesis advisors and jury members of the theses were also analysed. Findings: The most frequently cited information source types in theses were periodicals (36%), books (31%) and electronic publications (18%). The language of the cited sources was Turkish (67%), English (32%) and other languages (1%). The most frequently cited Turkish and English periodicals were Türk Kütüphaneciliği (Turkish Librarianship), Bilgi Dünyası (Information World), Resmi Gazete (Official Gazette), The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Library Trends, and Reference Services Review, respectively. Although varying by type of information source, the overall literature half-life was 9 years. Hüseyin Odabaş, Coşkun Polat, and Mehmet Ali Akkaya were the most frequently employed faculty members among a total of 7 advisors. The most frequently cited authors were Hüseyin Odabaş, Coşkun Polat, and Bülent Yılmaz, respectively. Implications: The results of this study are expected to be effective in developing and managing library collections in universities offering Information and Records Management graduate programs. In addition, this study reveals that the rate of English resource usage in the theses completed in the ÇAKU-DIRM program, which does not require a foreign language score at the stage of admission to the master's program, is higher than the theses in the Istanbul University DIRM program that require a foreign language score. Since the design and findings of this study are not suitable for making inferences about how foreign language resource use is realized, it is recommended to conduct an individual research on students' use of foreign language resources in graduate theses to develop institutional and national policies. Originality: In the literature, citation analysis has been done on the graduate theses of the Information and Records Management departments of universities in Turkey with a deep-rooted history, such as Hacettepe, Istanbul and Ankara. On the other hand, ÇAKU-DIRM differs from the universities that were the subject of previous studies as it is young and does not require an English language score for admission to the master’s program.

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