A Citation Study of Andrews University Theological Seminary Dissertations

Citations found in Theological Seminary Ph.D./Th.D. dissertations completed between 2006 and 2010 at Andrews University were analyzed to determine how many of the cited resources were held by the library, what types of resources were used, and their age. The study showed that 2/3 of the citations were books and almost 1/3 were periodicals, 84% of the citations were held by James White Library, and the majority of the citations were published within 60 years of the dissertations’ completion dates. The study also revealed that five of the 27 most frequently cited periodicals were included in ranked lists of three similar studies. Libraries collect resources with a well-intentioned idea of supporting the information and research needs of their patrons; and in academic libraries, these are students and faculty. Collecting circulation statistics is one way of measuring the use of the library collections but it does not show the impact of resources on the final product of the research such as the published articles, theses, and dissertations. By evaluating the number of times a source is cited, citation analysis (CA) provides data on how the library is meeting the needs of its patrons (LaBonte, 2005) and shows what resources they used for their published work (Kellsey & Knievel, 2012). According to Johnson (2009), “citation studies assume that the more frequently cited publications are the more valuable, will continue to be used heavily, and consequently are more important to have in the library collection” (p. 247). Ever since Gross and Gross (1927) studied citations published during 1926 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, citation studies have been done either as a method of understanding the impact that the literature has on the field or