Literature Review: What,

Why and How?

Dr. Manoj K Joshi, Professor

1 Dept. of Lib. & Inf. Sc.

Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
E-mail: manojkj01@yahoo.com
 An attempt to make the volume
2
of literature meaningful by
going through it in scientific way
 It is an attempt to finds most
3 significant and valuable
contributions on different areas
 It attempts to condense the
4 content in smaller volume in
a critical way
5 What is literature review?

A literature review is an attempt to

identify, locate and synthesize
completed research reports,
articles, books and other materials
about the specific problems of a
research topic
Busha & Harter
6 Forms of literature review

Literature review as an
independent document
Review papers in research journals
Review journals
Annual reviews

Part of a research study

7 Types of Reviews

Descriptive reviews
State-of-the-art reports
Trend reports

Critical reviews
8 Why to Write Literature
Review as a document?

Define & delimit the problem

Newly emerging areas

Select appropriate methodology

& design
Complex phenomenon
9

Identify studies
Seminal
Significant
Peripheral
Others
10

Avoid duplication
Highlight significant studies

Reveal overlooked
conclusions & dimensions
Different perspective than author
11

Identify theoretical perspective

Theories out of research generalizations

Reveal the current state of

research in the field
Gaps in research
Advances achieved
12 Why in a Research Study?

Background information of
the study
Shows the researchers
familiarity with research in his
field
Justify the study
13

How to write a review?

14

Identify, clarify and finalise the

topic/theme
Identify subtopics/subthemes
15 Identify the Sources for Literature
Review
Which documents to include?
Primary sources
Research studies
Descriptive papers
Informal communication
16 Collection of information
sources
Three stages
1.Selection of bibliographical
sources/databases
2.Searching the sources
3.Collecting the documents
17 Writing informative abstracts

Highlighting the text in hard copy and

writing key words at the top
Pattern notes- central idea in the
middle connected with other themes
through arrows
Linear notes- main headings and
subheadings for distinguishing main
and subsidiary ideas. Indention or
notation may be used for distinction.
Informative abstracts
18
What to include in each
informative abstract?

Summary of- Objectives,

methods, results & conclusions
Comments in terms of-
Comparison, contrast,
contribution or failure to contribute, gaps
19
How to present review?

Physical presentation
Introduction
Review
Conclusion/inferences

Studies reviewed/References
20 Introduction- Content

Identify general topic

Overall trends, conflicts, gaps,
etc.
Argument for reviewing the
literature
Scope of the review
Presentation style and sequence
21 Introduction
faculty perception of academic library professionals in India

An overview of the literature on perception and other

aspects related to librarians, reveals that the issue has been
quite actively investigated in the Western world but has not
been pursued with the same enthusiasm in the developing
world, particularly India. Thus, the present review of related
literature draws mostly from the Western literature.
Perception is formed on the basis of ones familiarity and
contact with another person or persons. Thus, the issue of
faculty-librarian contact and collaboration has been
discussed before other aspects. The various roles and
functions of librarians like service, education, research,
collection development and their relative importance follows
in the same order. Status of the academic librarians, real
situation and faculty views follow the discussion of their role.
Finally, the mental picture of attributes of the librarians,
mostly physical i.e. image, has been discussed.
 22

Survey and review of related studies of a study is intended to

give clear idea about the studies already conducted in the
area of research, its aims and objectives, methods used for
data collection and analysis and the results derived. It will help
the researcher to conduct the study in good manner. It will
also help the researcher to decide whether the study is
relevant or not. This chapter discusses the review of related
studies under six headings name!y, user satisfaction studies,
studies on quality standards, service quality studies, SERVQUAL
studies, studies with other tools, and LibQUAL+ studies.

Source: Abdul Majeed K. C. College library services a quality assessment

Thesis.Department of Library and Information Science , University of Calicut, 2005
23 Internal Structure of Literature Review

Art and science both

Preferably by principal variables of the
topic
Then some logical order/common link
Chronological
Geographical only for overcoming
numbers
Relationship- results, methods, theories
24 Structure of the Review

0 Introduction
1 Faculty- Librarian Contact
1.1 Outside Library
1.2 Inside Library
2 Library Services
3 Education and Teaching [Role in]
3.1 University Faculty [Perception of ]
3.2 College Faculty
3.3 Students
3.4 Role in Curriculum Development
4 Research
5 Collection Development
6 Role in University
7 Conclusion
25 Structure of the Review

3.1 USER SATISFACTION STUDIES

3.2 STUDIES ON QUALITY STANDARDS
3.3 SERVICE QUALITY STUDIES
3.4 SERVQUAL STUDIES
3.5 STUDIES WITH OTHER TOOLS
3.6 LIBQUAL STUDIES

Source: Abdul Majeed K. C. College library services a quality

assessment Thesis. Department of Library and Information
Science , University of Calicut, 2005
26 Library Services

The librarys collection, services and other

aspects go on changing in response to the
requirements of the patrons. Only 47 percent of the
Memphis State Universitys (Ivey 1994) teaching
faculty respondents found librarians useful or very
useful in keeping them informed of changes in the
library. In the University of Manitoba (Divay, Ducas
and Michaud-Oystryk 1987) the response rate was
much higher to 62 percent, while the response of
the faculty of Albion College (Oberg, Schleiter and
Houten 1989) was the highest at 93 percent. This
may be because of small and more closely knit
structure of college community than the university.
 27 Studies on Quality Standards
Pors (1996) conducted a large questionnaire survey of
2700 students in the Copenhagen area, Denmark, in the
autumn of 1994, to investigate some of the factors, which
influence the students' perception of the quality of library
services. The study explored in detail the relationship
between expectations and perceptions. The libraries
involved were the 3 departments of the Royal Library, the
2 service points of the Copenhagen Business School
Library, and the Copenhagen Municipal Library and one
of its departments. The study identified that the attitudes
of students about their library service quality is low
compared to their expectations.

Source: Abdul Majeed K. C. College library services a quality assessment Thesis.

Department of Library and Information Science , University of Calicut, 2005
28 Conclusion

Summarize contribution of significant

studies
General observations on all the studies
Methodology, theory, inconsistency,
gaps
Relate the reviewed literature with the
discipline at large
Identify topics for further research
29 Conclusion

The review of literature has revealed that the

problem has been studied across wider spectrum
mainly in the American continent. In Europe and
India only few studies have been reported. The
faculty librarian contact takes place more in smaller
settings like colleges than the larger universities.
However, in universities more experienced faculty
has more opportunities of frequently meeting the
librarians than relatively less experienced faculty.
But degree of response varies in different universities
and colleges also. Hence, there is a need to
conduct a comprehensive study of faculty
perception of librarians.
30 Conclusion

The review of related studies indicates that most of

these studies were conducted abroad. And no
detailed research level study has been conducted on
the quality of Libraries in India. This study perhaps may
be the first of this kind in the country. This highlights the
necessity of the present study.

Source: Abdul Majeed K. C. College library services a quality

assessment Thesis. Department of Library and Information
Science , University of Calicut, 2005
31 References

Standards & style manuals

IS 2381-1978 (Reaffirmed 2006)
Recommendations for Bibliographical
References: Essential and
Supplementary Elements
The Chicago Manual of Style
MLA Style
APA Style
32 Steps in Literature Review
continued 1/2

Analysis of the problem- concepts

& variables
Consult secondary sources for
understanding
Select relevant bibliographical
sources
General bibliography
Indexing & Abstracting source/ database
Full text database
33 Steps in Literature Review
continued 2/2

Conduct search and collect

literature
Prepare informative abstracts
Arrange and organize abstracts
Write the review
Derive conclusions
34

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