Qualitative methodology in librarianship and information science: a bibliographic analysis of academic articles

The follow-up of the qualitative approach to carry out research in the librarianship and information disciplines has been up to now scarce. A possible cause is its essence based on a direct relationship with the subjects/objects of study, and on the implication for researchers regarding the amount of data and its adequate interpretation and narration. The purpose of the present paper is to establish the situation prevailing in respect to the application of qualitative methods in librarianship and information science. The fulfillment of this objective required to deal with three main issues: the essence of the qualitative approach, the implication of following it and an examination of its use, through a bibliographic analysis of academic papers.The result reinforces the idea that there is little interest in qualitative studies.