An attempt to quantify the quality of student bibliographies

Abstract

Purpose

To provide a possible methodology by which the quality of student bibliographies can be measured.

Design/methodology/approach

The citations in some undergraduate business student bibliographies were categorised by resource type which were designated as either “scholarly” or “non‐scholarly”. A ratio of scholarly/non‐scholarly references – the “scholarly index”, was calculated for each bibliography as an indication of its quality.

Findings

The scholarly index did allow differences in bibliography quality to be detected between the different module assignments that were examined.

Research limitations/implications

There are a number of variables affecting the quality of student bibliographies including the library. As a measurement of library impact student bibliography quality has a limited value unless library factors can be isolated from other variables.

Originality/value

This methodology and the scholarly index, could be employed where it is required to assess or compare the quality of student bibliographies.

Citation

Middleton, A. (2005), "An attempt to quantify the quality of student bibliographies", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/14678040510588553