Research on the Literature Guarantee Assessment of the Social Science Discipline Based on Dissertations Analysis

Abstract This paper evaluates the literature guarantee for Folklore graduate students based on their dissertations at Beijing Normal University (BNU) Library. First, it investigates related works concerning literature guarantees. Researchers collected 72 master's and 47 doctoral students' dissertations between 2011 and 2014. By building a literature guarantee hierarchy for monographs and periodicals, this study maps citations to the library collection to quantify the collection status. Findings demonstrate that nearly 81% of monograph citations, which is slightly less than periodical citations (nearly 90%), are owned by the library. In frequently cited literature, the percentage rises to 90% for both monographs and periodicals. Moreover, the literature guarantee percentage of electronic monographs (74.8%) and periodicals (87.6%) are both higher than paper editions. This study also provides suggestions to improve the literature guarantee. Finally, it points out some limitations and future direction.