EN
The author characterizes selected aspects of methods of literature analysis and criticism in library and information science and observes a significant increase of researchers' interest in this research method in 21st century informatology and library studies. Two basic roles of literature analysis and criticism in scholarly research are analyzed - the auxiliary (heuristic) and the independent (knowledge-creating) one. Stages and variants of the analysis are described, including a traditional analysis, systematic review and meta-analysis. The closing part of the article includes results of pilot research on selected properties and features of literature analysis and criticism in contemporary library and information science.