Informetrics
Informetrics is the study of quantitative aspects of information,[1] it is an extension and evolution of traditional bibliometrics and scientometrics.
Informetrics uses bibliometrics and scientometrics methods to study mainly the problems of literature information management and evaluation of science and technology.
[3] Informetrics has gained more attention as it is a common scientific method for academic evaluation, research hotspots in discipline, and trend analysis.
In September 1980, Professor Otto Nacke introduced the term 'informetrics' at the first seminar on Informetrics in Frankfurt, Germany.
[12] In the western world, 20th century's Informetrics is mostly based on Lotka's law, named after Alfred J. Lotka, Zipf's law, named after George Kingsley Zipf, Bradford's law named after Samuel C. Bradford and on the work of Derek J. de Solla Price, Gerard Salton, Leo Egghe, Ronald Rousseau, Tibor Braun, Olle Persson, Peter Ingwersen, Manfred Bonitz, and Eugene Garfield.
[17] Scientometrics is a branch of science that quantitatively evaluates and predicts the process and management of scientific activities in order to reveal their development patterns and trends.
The research of bibliometrics focuses on the analysis of "scientific output in the form of articles, publications, citations, and others".
[25] The significance of informetrics research is to summarize various empirical laws from the theoretical point of view, at the same time test and modify the various empirical laws in the new information unit conditions, and explore its new applicability, therefore, the scientific nature of information science can be improved, but also to provide theoretical guidance for practical work.
Constant examination and adjustment in Informetrics education are needed as the rapid evolvement of information technologies in the field of LIS, for example, the emergence of webometrics/cybermetrics.
[31][32] Moreover, most countries have limited resources in informetrics education, as some Universities only offer the course if there is a demand among students.
[30] Informetrics education can provide an in-depth understanding of "information user communities and the boundaries of specific fields".
[30] As science and technology are continuously innovating and developing, using the methods and applications of informetrics allows for "research monitoring and evaluation purpose in an objective way".
With the advent of digitalization and the development of technologies, virtual libraries and online journals have become the main way for researchers and scholars to access scientific literature information, which has made the measurement and evaluation of web-based literature information more important.
Webometrics/cybermetrics is a discipline in science that integrates bibliometrics, informetrics, statistical methods, and computer technology to measure and analyze information and documents on the web,[34] which covers "quantitative aspects of both the construction side and the usage side of the Web".
In 2000, scientists began to explore the disciplinary system and theoretical framework of webometrics and conducted meaningful application research.
