A citation study of American literature: implications for collection management

A total of 7,149 references appearing in 253 source items (including books, book artiles, journal articles, and dissertations) in the field of American literature were analyzed. From the analysis lists of the most frequently cited periodical titles and book titles (both primary and secondary) were formulated. Since such a large number of titles is cited, the lists reveal relatively small clusters of frequently-cited materials and do not identify fringe areas. The results do point to areas for retrospective development of collections and indicate possibilities for cooperative collection and study of citation data.