Annals of Library and Information Studies

Annals of Information: A Decade of Discovery in LIS Research

Sapna Sharma — 2026-03-03

This study aims to represent a bibliometric analysis of the journal Annals of Library and Information Studies (ALIS) from 2015 to 2024. During this study period, a total of 324 articles, contributed by 617 authors, were published across 10 volumes and 40 issues. On average, 32 articles are published every year. The paper analyses authorship patterns and finds a high percentage of double-authored papers. We also calculated authorship measures regarding the Collaborative Index (CI) and Collaborative Coefficient (CC). This study also analyses inter-institution, inter-gender, RGR, and DT. The paper applies Lotka’s law for author productivity.

Exploring the Expanding Universe of Digital Gateways in Library and Information Science: Platforms for Knowledge Access, Scholarly Communication and Research Advancement

Monika Verma — 2026-03-03

The exponential growth of knowledge in the digital age necessitates more effective methods for locating and accessing information. Library and Information Science (LIS) gateways now function as central hubs for curated, reliable, and comprehensive research resources, serving scholars, practitioners, and students. These platforms facilitate discovery, contribution, and collaboration across geographic and disciplinary boundaries, thereby strengthening the global LIS community. Additionally, LIS gateways provide students and professionals with organized, quality-controlled access to the global knowledge network, which is essential for navigating the contemporary information landscape. The central thesis of this study is to critically evaluate the function and impact of major global LIS gateways, with particular emphasis on their roles in enhancing scholarly communication, the challenges encountered in their implementation, and the opportunities for their future optimization. To this end, the research systematically examines the roles, strengths, and challenges of prominent LIS gateways, focusing on factors such as resource breadth, equitable access, language barriers, content currency, and technological adaptation. Through this analysis, the study aims to offer actionable guidance for professionals, policymakers, stakeholders, and developers on improving these platforms, fostering innovation, and strengthening global information management. Furthermore, the study explores the emerging trends influencing LIS gateways, including user experience, advanced search functionalities, artificial intelligence integration, data privacy, security, and ethical and social considerations.

Comparative Study of Ethical Publication and Open access policies of Major research Funding agencies in India

Barasha Kalita — 2026-03-03

This study examines the ethical publication practices and open access policies of major research funding agencies in India, focusing exclusively on government sector agencies while excluding private entities. The analysis identifies the top funding bodies for the fiscal year 2023-2024, revealing that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and Department of Science and Technology (DST) are the leading agencies by allocation. The findings indicate that only 13% of the agencies adopted open access policies, with a mere 6% mandating green open access. Additionally, 70% allowed the uploading of funded research to institutional repositories, while only a few agencies provide clear gold open access options. The study also explores ethical guidelines across these funding agencies. All agencies require acknowledgment of funding, and an emphasis on anti-plagiarism rules is noted among 80% of them. The results indicate a need for more uniform and robust ethical standards across funding agencies, particularly in comparison to international counterparts, to enhance research integrity and access to knowledge. This study offers information to scholars and organizations to raise the standard of research in India using open access and ethical standards.

The Hidden Barrier: Copyright Literacy, Rights Transfer and Open Access Practices among Indian Researchers

Mandavi Mishra — 2026-03-03

This study examines the relationship between copyright law and Open Access (OA) in Indian academia, focusing on researchers' awareness of copyright provisions, open licensing, and rights transfer agreements. The research employed an online survey with 60 PhD and postdoctoral students, as well as faculty interviews, at an Institute of National Importance in Eastern India. While the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, initially grants authors ownership of their works, publishing contracts often transfer economic rights to publishers. The study reveals that 70.15% of researchers were unable to distinguish between moral and economic rights, while 73.13% were unaware of fair dealing provisions. Additionally, 70.1% prioritised journal impact factor over open access policies while selecting publication venues. These trends suggest the over-dependence on prestige metrics and uneven institutional support for rights retention. The study recommends the adoption of rights retention strategies for publicly funded research and copyright and OA training for researchers.

Findability, Accessibility and Performance of Open Access Journal Websites in Library and Information Science

Aqib Mehroof — 2026-03-03

The revolutionised shift of academic publishing from traditional to modern has encouraged free access to publications. Open Access plays a significant role in facilitating barrier-free intellectual exchange and educational diversity. To ensure free access, websites and online platforms were utilised. This study examines the discoverability, accessibility and performance of open-access Library and Information science (LIS) journals. These aspects for open-access publications are essential for promoting free access and improving research distribution. At present, websites are the primary source of dissemination of information. LIS journal websites also play a crucial role in ensuring the availability of the journal's content. This study evaluates the websites of the LIS journals to assess their findability, accessibility and performance.

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) were used as the data source. All the LIS journals indexed in DOAJ have been extracted and analysed. All the data were tabulated in the Google sheet in an understandable format. We check the journals' websites by simple Google search, and the working websites are archived in the Google sheet for further analysis. The study administered webometric analysis using the webometric tool ‘Google PageSpeed Insights’. This tool provides findability (SEO-Search Engine Optimization), accessibility, performance, and best practices for websites on both mobile and desktop. The study showed many LIS Open-Access journals have findability and accessibility challenges. SEO practices, accessible rich Internet Applications, structured data text alternatives, and metadata contribute to effective and better discoverability and usability. This study is limited to the LIS open-access journals in DOAJ. Additionally, webometric research is limited in its findability, accessibility and performance. This study highlights the current status of OA LIS journals and provides value for the need for accessibility standards, SEO practices, Comprehensive indexing, and integration with emerging technologies. The study's findings shed light on OA journals' online presence and usability, contributing to a more diverse scholarly environment.

What Indian Parliament discusses on Library? An Exploratory Analysis of Questions and Answers in Indian Parliament

Swapan Kumar Patra — 2026-03-03

This paper is an attempt to map library related issues raised in both houses of Indian Parliament. Parliament Questions and Answers (Q&As) are downloaded from Digital Sansad web portal (both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) using the word “Library” occurs on the title of Q&As. The paper analyses year wise, session wise number of Q&As and the type of questions asked in the both houses of Indian Parliament. It further uses topic modelling tool for word frequency analysis to find the most frequently occurring key words, sentiments of words, major themes and historical evolution of library related issues in the Parliament. The study has observed almost similar trends in number of questions asked. The sentiment analysis shows the ‘positive’ is the most prominent type of sentiment. The LDA topic model extracted 10 latent thematic clusters. The topics shows that the debates are strongly oriented toward institutional growth, governance, funding, and modernization of libraries in India. Time-based thematic analysis is done using a gap of twenty-year period. In time-based thematic grouping there are consistent theme on public & national libraries. This indicated that these institutes were always highlighted in the parliament discourse. However, there are four types of shifts occurred during the period. First is the evolution of 'Library' concept second is the ‘Personnel’, third is the ‘Technology’ and fourth focus is more ‘National’ themes, for example, 'national mission'. This study will be useful for researcher, historian of libraries, and also for policy and decision makers.

Sophisticated Online Tool to Sort Colon Classification Number

Sreekumar S — 2026-03-03

Colon Classification (CC), developed by Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, was one of the underrated classification systems, which seems to be on the brink of death. It is still being adopted and followed by some of the significant academic and public libraries in India and abroad. Even though being positioned in the top classification list, the complexity of the Colon Classification’s Mixed notation makes it difficult for the New Libraries to adopt the Colon Classification as their Classification system. Due to the complexity of the mixed notations, CC really needs a qualified, experienced Library patron to arrange the shelves. Even the Patrons found it challenging to locate the books compared to other classification systems. To address this issue, the paper introduces the “CC Sorter,” which will provide an efficient mechanism and workflow for arranging books on shelves and may be considered a 21st-century revival of the Colon Classification. It overcomes errors in shelving and book identification, enhancing the overall experience for both library staff and patrons.

Growth and Research Trends in Doctoral Dissertation in Library and Information Science in West Bengal , India(1983-2023)

Zabeen Ahmed — 2026-03-03

This study explores how doctoral research in Library and Information Science (LIS) has evolved in West Bengal over the past four decades. The study analyses 341 PhD theses awarded by universities in West Bengal offering a PhD program in Library Science between 1983 and 2023. The study uses an extensive survey method to collect the bibliographic entries of doctoral dissertations. Citations are obtained either directly from the university libraries or downloaded from the Sodhganaga Repository. The study outlines the growth trends, institutional contributions, gender participation, supervision practices, research themes, language use, and citation patterns, using simple bibliometric and descriptive techniques. The results revealed that after 2010, the University of Calcutta and Jadavpur University played leading roles in Library and Information Science Research. Most research outputs are written in English language, followed by Bengali. Bibliometrics and information behaviour are found to be the most widely researched topics. Although the study highlights the growing academic strength and maturity in Library and Information Science research, it also found some gender imbalances and uneven research practices across the surveyed universities,which highlights the need for more inclusive and balanced growth in the future.

Assessing Artificial Intelligence Literacy among Academic Library Professionals

Zihadur Rahman — 2026-03-03

Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy means the ability to understand and utilize AI consciously. This paper aims to measure the artificial intelligence (AI) literacy of library professionals from universities in Bangladesh. In this study, a quantitative method was used with a cross-sectional survey design. Here, a total of 225 data were collected from library professionals who work in different public and private universities in Bangladesh. For the data collection, a structured questionnaire was distributed through Google Forms randomly. The data reliability was tested using Cronbach’s alpha, which was found to be acceptable. The results showed that the professionals have a medium level of AI literacy because of inadequate formal training and technical expertise. It was also found that they prefer strongly AI-related workshops and training for their organization's development. The study conations a comprehensive information about the current conditions of AI understanding of university library professionals in Bangladesh. It also provides suggestions for the development of policy and sustainable AI integration in academic libraries.

How Much Do India's Leading Colleges Spend on Libraries? An Analysis of the Top 100 Institutions

Sanjo Jose — 2026-03-03

This article presents a comprehensive analysis of annual library expenditure among colleges in India ranked by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). It evaluates the number of enrolled students, calculates the average per-student library expenditure, and examines the proportion of capital investment dedicated by colleges to library resources. Special attention is given to institutions with consistently ranked colleges. The authors have also done an exploration of the correlation between library expenditure and ranking performance. The study uncovers significant disparities in resource allocation across top colleges. Driven by data, the authors suggest optimal benchmarks for annual library expenditure: either ₹300 per student or 10% of annual capital expenditure, whichever amount is higher. A change in the formula of NIRF regarding the library expenditure is essential to ensure that institutions achieving top national ranking positions meet the minimum fiscal responsibility of adequate library resource allocation. These insights inform policy-makers and drive improvements in the quality of library resources, with the potential to positively impact higher education nationwide.