Influence of Human Behaviour and the Principle of Least Effort on Library and Information Science Research

Introduction The principle of least effort (PLE), a concept advanced by the American linguist George Kingsley Zipf, indicates that people complete tasks by choosing the way of least effort among various options (Zipf, 1949). To prove that the PLE is an indication of human nature, Zipf analyzed numerous empirical data collected from various human activities and used mathematical formulae to explain his findings. Zipf explained the PLE in detail in his classic 1949 entitled Human Behaviour and the Principle of Least Effort: An Introduction to Human Ecology (HBPLE). The PLE represents a common human behavior; it may thus be expected that the HBPLE has become visible in various fields and applied to various human activities. HBPLE was also compared with similar theories and was reconceptualized in the field of library and information science (LIS) (Austin, 2001; Gratch, 1990). The LIS publications on PLE have indicated that the concept of the PLE is connected to various topics (Bronstein, 2008; Chrzastowski, 1995, 1999; Kim, 1982; Wang, 2001). This paper presents partial results of a research project for exploring the interdisciplinary influences of HBPLE. The focuses is this paper are on which concepts and citation functions of HBPLE were cited by authors of LIS articles that were published between 1949 and 2013. We analyzed citation frequency trends and the research topics of citing articles to identify emerging trends in the influence of HBPLE on LIS research and to determine which topics in LIS research have involved applying the concepts in HBPLE. In addition, citation context analysis was used to identify the cited concepts and the citation functions of HBPLE; thus, whether the PLE was the most frequently cited concept in HBPLE and the reasons HBPLE was cited were identified. The results may contribute to the understanding how a classic book on linguistics has influenced LIS research.