Social Gerontology--Integrative and Territorial Aspects: A Citation Analysis of Subject Scatter and Database Coverage

To determine the mix of resources used in social gerontology research, a citation analysis was conducted. A representative sample of citations was selected from three prominent gerontology journals and information was added to determine subject scatter and database coverage for the cited materials....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBehavioral & social sciences librarian Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 154 - 175
Main Author Lasda Bergman, Elaine M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 01.07.2011
Subjects
Citation Analysis
Gerontology
Intellectual Disciplines
Interdisciplinary Approach
Librarians
Library Materials
Library Services
Research Methodology
Social Sciences
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Summary:To determine the mix of resources used in social gerontology research, a citation analysis was conducted. A representative sample of citations was selected from three prominent gerontology journals and information was added to determine subject scatter and database coverage for the cited materials. Results indicate that a significant portion of gerontology research, even from a social science perspective, relies roughly equally on medical resources as it does social science resources. Furthermore, there is a small but defined core of literature constituting scholarly "territory" unique to gerontology. Analysis of database indexing indicated that broad, interdisciplinary databases provide more comprehensive coverage of the cited materials than do subject-specific databases. (Contains 7 tables.)
ISSN:0163-9269
DOI:10.1080/01639269.2011.592803