A glimpse of LIS research and publications in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a glimpse of the LIS research and publication output by the Sri Lankan LIS professionals and the study had four specific objectives: 1) to evaluate the volume and subject coverage of LIS research carried out in Sri Lanka 2) to evaluate the volume and types of LIS publications done by the Sri Lanka LIS professionals 3) to identify the issues affecting the research and publications output and 4) to make recommendations for the improvement of research and publications output in Sri Lanka. Required data were gathered through unpublished indexes and content pages of LIS journals published in Sri Lanka. The study established that 115 postgraduate level researches have been carried out during 1994-2007 period but there is no evidence of a single research carried out at national level. During 1995-2008, 260 national and international publications have been contributed by the Sri Lankan LIS professionals. However the actual figure could be more than this. The full volume is hidden from us because there is no proper access to the bibliographic details of all the books, conference papers and articles published by the Sri Lankans in some foreign journals, conference proceedings and collected works. Several reasons could be identified for lack of LIS research and publications in Sri Lanka. 1) Absence of a necessity to engage in research and publish 2) Heterogeneity of the LIS professionals 3) Gender of the professionals and 4) Lack of training in research and academic writing skills. In the final section several recommendations are made to address the problem in the long run.