This study investigated the trends in the scope and subject classifications of library and information science research from authors that are affiliated with institutions in Africa. Library and information science journal articles and conference proceedings from the 54 African countries that were published between 2006 and 2015 and indexed in the Web of Science were retrieved for the study. After the removal of non-relevant articles and articles that were not available online, the library and information science publications were classified based on subject and scope. Results from the analysis of author keywords, country of affiliation, subject and scope classification were also visualized in network maps and bar charts. Frequency analysis shows that though computer science had the most profound influence on Africa’s library and information science research, its influence came to prominence in 2004. Furthermore, North African countries exhibited features that are different from the rest of Africa; they contributed most on core computer classifications while other African countries focused more on the social science-related aspects of library and information science. Unlike other regions in Africa, the North African countries also formed a dense collaboration cluster with strong interests in subjects that are conceptual and global in scope. The collaboration clustering analysis revealed an influence of some colonial languages of as a basis for forging strong collaboration between African and non-African countries. On the other hand, African countries tend to collaborate more with countries in their regions. Lastly, human computer interaction and library and information science history subject classifications were almost nonexistent. It is recommended that further studies should investigate why certain subject classifications are not well represented.

中文翻译：

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非洲图书馆和信息科学研究的协作集群、跨学科、范围和学科分类：对 1996 年至 2015 年科学网络出版物的分析

本研究调查了隶属于非洲机构的作者在图书馆和信息科学研究的范围和主题分类方面的趋势。该研究检索了 2006 年至 2015 年间发表并在 Web of Science 中编入索引的来自 54 个非洲国家的图书馆和信息科学期刊文章和会议记录。剔除不相关文章和无法在线获取的文章后，图书馆和信息科学出版物根据主题和范围进行分类。作者关键词、所属国家、主题和范围分类的分析结果也在网络地图和条形图中可视化。频率分析表明，虽然计算机科学对非洲图书馆和信息科学研究的影响最为深远，但其影响力在2004年开始突出。此外，北非国家表现出与非洲其他地区不同的特点；他们对核心计算机分类的贡献最大，而其他非洲国家则更多地关注图书馆和信息科学与社会科学相关的方面。与非洲其他地区不同，北非国家还形成了一个密集的合作集群，对概念性和全球范围的主题有着浓厚的兴趣。合作聚类分析揭示了一些殖民语言的影响，作为在非洲和非非洲国家之间建立强有力合作的基础。另一方面，非洲国家倾向于更多地与其所在地区的国家合作。最后，人机交互以及图书馆和信息科学历史学科分类几乎不存在。建议进一步研究调查为什么某些学科分类没有得到很好的体现。