Opening the black box of Library Hi Tech: a social network and bibliometric analysis

PurposeThis paper presents a comprehensive study using bibliometric and social network analysis (SNA) to depict the academic community, research hotspots and the correlation between research performance and social network measurements within Library Hi Tech.Design/methodology/approachPublications from Library Hi Tech between 2010 and 2022 are reviewed and analysed through coauthorship analysis, co-occurrence analysis, SNA and the Spearman rank correlation test.FindingsThe annual number of publications in Library Hi Tech increased from 2016 to 2022, indicating that this research has gradually gained global attention. The USA and China are the most significant contributors to the relevant publications. Scholars in this field mainly engage in small-scale cooperation. Academic libraries, digital libraries, libraries, information technology and COVID-19 were hot topics during the study period. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a marked increase in research on healthcare. Academic interest in the internet of Things and social media has proliferated recently and may soon attract more attention. Spearman rank correlation analysis shows that research performance (i.e. publication count and citation count) is significantly and positively correlated with social network measurements (i.e. degree centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality and eigenvector centrality) in studies of Library Hi Tech.Originality/valueThis paper reveals a systematic picture of the research landscape of Library Hi Tech and provides a potential guide for future research. The relationship between scientific research performance and social network measurements can be objectively identified based on statistical knowledge.