Quantifying interdisciplinarity: Subject librarians as research collaborators

Abstract Interdisciplinary research presents unique challenges and unique opportunities for collaboration, but measuring the impact of interdisciplinary research creates particular opportunities for subject librarians. Researchers working in the field of applied zooarchaeology collect data about ancient animal populations by examining animal remains found at archaeological sites. These data provide historic insights that would be of use to scholars working in a variety of disciplines, but the question has lingered among applied zooarchaeologists as to whether their colleagues in other disciplines have been discovering and citing the published data. The authors of the current study designed a citation analysis to measure the impact of applied zooarchaeological publications beyond the traditional disciplinary boundaries of anthropology/archaeology. The authors then reflect on the implications of the findings for not just applied zooarchaeology, but for interdisciplinarity, for discovery and collection management, and for collaboration and demonstrating value.