Application of the bibliometric distributions

Abstract

Two questions often asked of researchers in bibliometrics are : I) Do these distributions really exist ? and 2) How can they be applied ? We here suggest these two questions are related : that one way to defend the reality of these distributions is to demonstrate that one can make reasonable decisions in practical situations by using them. To indicate how they can be applied, a microeconomic approach is taken to analyzing a specific, and in the library literature, often discussed, problem : how to allocate resources over various parts of a library book collection. A conceptualization of this problem is presented in which it is necessary to have a model of book use before we can proceed. The consequences of using the bibliometric distribution is compared with those of other plausible candidates. The differences are discussed.