RQ1. What topics/themes (within the social/cultural, legal, ethical, organisational
and use dimensions) are most frequently dealt with in DL research published
in the period of 1997-2007? We hope to identify the trends and gaps in
research in these areas that will suggest a way forward for future
investigation into this increasingly important phenomenon.
RQ2. What are the core journals – those that publish the highest number of
articles on these topics? This information might be useful to help academics,
researchers and professionals interested in these topics focus their effort and
attention on the most prolific journals when searching for related works.
RQ3. How is DL research published in the mainstream LIS journals examined in
this study distributed according to geographical/socio-political regions?
Does it have an international and global focus, or is it still mainly based on
North American contents?