Web 2.0 technologies in libraries: a survey of periodical literature published by Emerald

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the growth and development of periodical literature on Web 2.0 technologies and their other fields. Design/methodology/approach – Bibliographic data of the articles published in the 13 leading peer-reviewed journals are obtained from the Emerald database (www.emeraldinsight.com) directly using such keywords as “Web 2.0”, “blogs”, “wikis”, “RSS”, “social networking sites”, “podcasts”, “Mashup”, and multimedia sharing tools, i.e. YouTube and Flickr. The bibliographical surrogates such as author, title, subtitle, source, issue, volume, pages, etc. were recorded in MS-Excel (2010) sheet for the analysis and interpretation of data. A bibliography of selected articles is provided. Findings – The study found 206 research articles on the subject published in 13 leading library and information science journals of Emerald for period 2007-2011. Further, the study found that 2009 was the most productive year with 69 articles. The study observed Online Information Review published 49 articles, and hence can be considered the core journal on the topic. Mike Thelwall from the UK was found to be the most prolific author, having authored or co-authored five articles. Research limitations/implications – The study was based on 206 research articles published during the years 2007-2011. The study was restricted to this period because the Web 2.0 concept was originated during 2004-2005 and the undertaken period has sufficient published literature on the topic. Originality/value – The paper provides reliable and authentic information on the subject. This is the first study on this topic.