Abstract
Collective memory of scientists shapes the foundation of the discipline. References in the scientific literature delineate the boundaries of the disciplines and also documented their history. However, due to the two mechanisms of preferential attachment and temporal decay, many articles that were frequently cited in the past are no longer cited. So, is the collective memory of library and information science partly gone? Which classic documents have been forgotten, and what caused the forgottenness? In this study, we analyzed the references of major publications in the Library and Information Science (LIS) field, and found that many famous works have been forgotten in the past few decades. Through calculating the differences in citations over decades, we find the top 2% forgotten publication list, and summarize the main reasons for the forgotten scientific literature, which are obliteration by incorporation, loss of fashion, short timeliness and replaced by new knowledge. Our findings provide a preliminary understanding of the establishment process of the collective memory.
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Notes
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Zhai, Y., McGail, A., Ding, Y. (2022). Elapsed Collective Memory: Looking for the Forgotten Classic Works in Library and Information Science. In: Smits, M. (eds) Information for a Better World: Shaping the Global Future. iConference 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13192. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96957-8_7
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