Libri's golden jubilee in a bibliometric mirror

For the celebration of the 50-year jubilee of Libri - International Journal of Libraries and Information Services, an extensive bibliometric analysis has been carried out to present some qualitative and quantitative data about the journal's position in the information market and its contribution to the professional developments in the field of library and information science. The study is based on the methodology for online citation analysis developed by the Centre for Informetric Studies in Copenhagen, to facilitate a deeper understanding of journal evaluation procedures and, consequently, the evaluation of the research published in it. Highlighted features are: Libri as represented in the databases; authorship characteristics; users of the journal; export of knowledge; citation pattern; synchrone and diachrone analysis of the citation impact; citation half life; top ten most cited Libri articles; special issues published in the 1990s. The aim of the presented metric analyses is not only to provide a historical overview of the visibility and impact of an independent, international journal, but also to show an advanced method for journal evaluation and to promote the use of online citation analysis. Data presented in the 15 figures provide useful information about some properties of a scientific journal, which until now have not been highlighted in the form of scientific investigations analysing the importance and influence of a journal in a given field.