Public Librarians as Authors in the Library Science Periodical Literature:

This article examines the level of scholarly contribution made by public librarians to eight national library science periodicals from 1988 through 1990 and to two national library science periodicals specifically targeted for a public library audience for the same period. Contributors are profiled on the bases of gender, geographic location, and collaboration, and, comparisons are made between the authorship characteristics in the general library periodicals and the two public library-oriented periodicals. It is shown that, although public librarians' contributions to the general library science literature is practically negligible, they constitute a significant presence in the public library-oriented periodicals.