Mining Potential Cooperative Relationships Between Institutions Based on Similarity Network of Self-Reported Research Interests: A Case Study of Library, Information and Archives Management Schools in China postprint

Abstract: [Purpose/Significance] By quantitatively describing the research landscape of the discipline of library, information and archives management (LIAM), this paper can provide decision support for the establishment of cooperative relationships between institutions, thus promoting the development of interinstitutional cooperation. [Method/Process] By using LDA model and network analysis method, this paper took 67 LIAM schools in China as an example. By thematic clustering of faculty’s self-reported research interest texts, the similarity network of institutions was constructed, and community division and potential cooperative relationship mining were performed. [Result/Conclusion] It is found that the current research interests of LIAM faculties in China mainly involve 11 topics, such as information resource management, informetrics and competitive intelligence, and information services and users. The sample schools can be divided into 7 communities, containing 457 pairs of potential cooperative relationships. In the future, in addition to taking part in five approaches of disciplinary integration, LIAM can fully carry out interinstitutional cooperation in scientific research and educational practice in different fields.