Studies the evolution of information production processes and their relation to the Lorenz dominance order as a theoretical framework for bibliometrics. The relation between the total number of sources, the total number of items, the average production, and the maximum production are examined. Geometric illustrations are provided. (Contains 14…

Discusses the measurement of the growth and obsolescence of literature and shows that growth and obsolescence can be studied by the same mathematical techniques. A combined growth-obsolescence theory is presented that can be measured with continuous rates, and three earlier papers are reconsidered and results are reproven. (Contains 18…

Defines and discusses bibliometrics, particularly as carried out in automated systems. The specific requirements to which data should conform to support bibliometric analysis are detailed and explained, and the Intelligent Gateway of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is described. (15 references) (Author/CLB)

Defines the scope and significance of the field of informetrics and relates it to the earlier fields of bibliometrics and scientometrics. Practical and theoretical aspects of informetrics are discussed, including the development of mathematical models and the derivation of measures; and a brief overview of articles in this issue is included. (15…

Considers the problem of bibliometric prediction and the applicability of Lotka's law regarding the number of papers written by each author. Results of a study of 899 Management Information Systems (MIS) research articles published in 10 journals between 1975 and 1987 are described. (24 references) (LRW)

Presents Price's law, which states that half of the literature on a subject will be contributed by the square root of total number of authors publishing in that area, and assesses it against empirical evidence and simulated productivity distributions. The discussion covers this law's relation to Lotka's law and its empirical validity. (Author/CLB)

Discusses the use of the generalized inverse Gaussian-Poisson (GIGP) distribution in bibliometric studies. The main types of size-frequency distributions are described, bibliometric distributions in logarithms are examined; parameter estimation is discussed; and goodness-of-fit tests are considered. Examples of applications are included. (17…

Investigates the Leimkuhler curve and the Gini index from a probabilistic viewpoint for studying the concentration of bibliometric distributions. The importance of the time parameter and the special nature of the "nonproducers" in bibliometric studies are examined, standard models of bibliometric processes are described, and further…

Presents a mathematical theory that can be used to define concentration places of objects within unordered classes. The application to research on the evolution of journals and subject areas is illustrated, and an online method of calculating concentration evolution is described. (1 references) (CLB)

Examines relationships among the parameters of the Zipf size-frequency distribution as well as its sampling properties. Highlights include its importance in bibliometrics, tables for the sampling distribution of the maximal value of a finite Zipf distribution, and an approximation formula for confidence intervals. (Author/LRW)

Describes a mechanism by which thesauri can be updated and maintained using citation, co-citation, and citation context analysis. When tested in 26 specialty areas of economics and sociology, the method generated a rich alternative terminology which experts found appropriate for describing those areas, and which compared favorably with Library of…

Illustrates that the Poisson-lognormal model provides good fits to a diverse set of distributions commonly studied in bibliometrics and scientometrics. Topics discussed include applications to the empirical data sets related to the laws of Lotka, Bradford, and Zipf; causal processes that could generate lognormal distributions; and implications for…

Reviews recent research into the use of hierarchic agglomerative clustering methods for document retrieval. The topics discussed include the calculation of interdocument similarities, algorithms used to implement clustering methods on large databases, validity testing of document hierarchies, appropriate search strategies, and other applications…

Discussion of informetric distributions shows that generalized Leimkuhler functions give proper fits to a large variety of Bradford curves, including those exhibiting a Groos droop or a rising tail. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is used to test goodness of fit, and least-square fits are compared with Egghe's method. (Contains 53 references.) (LRW)

Investigates the relationships between the parameters of the Simon-Yule model and the shapes of three bibliometric distributions: Lotka's Law of Scientific Productivity; Bradford's Law of Bibliometric Scattering; and Zipf's Law of Word Frequency. The results indicate that the probability of a new entry determines the characteristics of all three…