Publishing of Research in Librarianship.

RESEARCH, WHETHER DEFINED simply as a systematic search for new knowledge or as the application of the scientific method to test a relationship, builds on what is already known. As the knowledge base of a field increases, the amount of publication of and about research in the field will presumably grow at a comparable rate. The maturity of any field of study is judged by the research activity that it supports. The extent of the field's research productivity is determined from the published record of that research; therefore, it is common to assess progress in a field of study through an evaluation of the quality and quantity of its published research. This paper, while not an evaluation of the quality and quantity of the published research in librarianship, will facilitate such evaluation by reviewing the most conspicuous trends during the past twenty years in the publishing of information about research in librarianship in the IJnited States and the publishing of the results of the research itself. Since scientific research builds on previous research, the system of communication among researchers is very important to the development of a field. The National Enquiry into Scholarly Communication, which issued a report on publishing and communication patterns in the social sciences and the humanities in 1979, identified seven " characteristics of an effective system of scholarly communication, applicable to all disciplines. " ' The first three characteristics seem appropriate points to consider in connection with the discussion of research in librarianship: