Mapping Scholarly Communication on the Role of Libraries in Crisis Management and Disaster Response: A Bibliometrics Analysis

Abstract

Disaster is a phenomenon or an unexpected happening, which can be both natural and man-made, that particularly disturbs & to some extent causes harm to humans, organizational infrastructure, and national heritage. In this context, the public library plays a crucial role in the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage, rare and other valuable resources, to not only protect it for the present generation but also to portray the rich culture of the nation to the upcoming generation. It becomes an utmost need of the hour, libraries emerge to safeguard their resources, capturing and digitizing cultural manuscripts of national importance, catering their services to potential communities, facilitating communication, and providing hassle-free reading rooms to their users. Important guidelines given by ALA and IFLA focus on retroconversion of library resources, an effective framework for disaster management plans, and various information services for users in times of emergency. Several libraries around the world started taking initiatives for disaster management and recovery preparedness in times of need. The National Library of Australia has been working on digital preservation for protecting cultural heritage manuscripts, while Kerala state central library, after the severe destruction caused by the Kerala flood 2018, started taking efforts for the restoration of documents to promote the dissemination of knowledge to their communities using those resources. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of global scholarly output on the role of libraries in crisis management and disaster response. Data is extracted from the rich Scopus database by using an advanced search strategy. The extracted data were analysed, synthesized, and represented in the form of tables, figures, and charts with the help of bibliometrics performance indicators and science mapping tools like  VOSviewer, Biblishiny, and the Microsoft Office package. The findings of the study examine publication trends, prominent authors, institutions, countries, core sources, thematic evolution, and collaboration networks.