Abstract

Today, public libraries are contributing deeply to our society by strengthening their ability and services to identify and respond to users’ needs through various programs. However, it is difficult to find a study that analyzed the research status of public library programs or changes over time. Therefore, for the purpose of systematically grasping research trends in the field of overseas public library programs, an intellectual structure analysis based on keyword profiling was performed. Specifically, subject terms analysis, network analysis and cluster analysis, and analysis by period/year were performed based on the controlled keywords (subject terms) of journal articles papers searched in the LISTA database. As a result, first, it was found that 9 subjects corresponding to all global/hot/local topics are leading the research in the field of overseas public library programs. Second, five research areas in the field of overseas public library programs(cultural programs, outreach programs, activity programs, public services, community) could be visualized and clearly identified. Third, research in the field of overseas public library programs began in earnest in the late 1990s and was active from the mid-2000s to the early 2010s, and after that, it was found to be somewhat stagnant until recently. This study is the result of specifically identifying research trends on programs that recently emerged as a major task of public libraries, and can be used as basic data and prior knowledge to explore the development direction of public library programs in the future.