School of Library & Information Studies
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Item Audiobooks and attitudes: An examination of school librarian's perspectives(2013-01-01) Brock, Rosemarie Monique; Vardell, Sylvia M.; Akin, Lynn; Battle, JoelGiven that research has shown that audiobooks impact literacy for youth in a number of ways, and since school librarians typically serve as gatekeepers of audiobook collections in school libraries, this study examined the attitudes of school librarians in Texas toward audiobooks. Using a multiliteracies framework to guide this research, this study asked: How do school librarians in Texas perceive the value and use of audiobooks for children and young adults? An electronic online survey was conducted using the population of school librarians in the state of Texas at both the elementary and secondary levels with 298 librarians providing usable data for analysis. In addition to the guiding study question, the thirty-nine question survey attempted to ascertain attitudes toward differences between listening to and reading a book, toward the addition of audiobooks to a school library collection, toward the use of audiobooks with diverse student populations, in addition to collecting general demographic information about librarian experience and correlating findings against this demographic data. When applicable, the survey included open-ended survey questions that offered participants an opportunity to offer additional comments and feedback. To highlight, this study's results found that across all grade levels (e.g., elementary, middle school, high school, young adult, adults), the overwhelming majority (94.6%) of librarians noted that ALL students should have access to audiobooks, with 82% reporting having an audiobook collection in their school library. The "typical" school librarian respondent in this study was female, with a Master of Library Science degree, working in a public school, serving 500-1000 students in the suburbs, with a budget of at least $300 per year to spend on audiobooks. Educational constituency and annual budgets were both proven to be statistically important in the acquisition of audiobooks. Respondents essentially had the same regard for the value of audiobooks in relation to reading regardless of the size of their audio collections. Most noteworthy obstacles for acquiring audiobooks were funding (52%), lack of interest from faculty (24.8%) and format restrictions (21%). In conclusion, it is important to note that while attitudes held by school librarians in Texas regarding audiobooks were overwhelmingly positive, a number of obstacles contribute to the lack of robust audiobook collections in many school libraries.Item Augusta Baker: Exponent of the oral art of storytelling; utilizing video as a medium(1983-08-31) Merriman, Maxine Modell; Sheldon, Brooke; Cleveland, Ana; McFarland, John; Turner, FrankItem Authenticity and empowerment: Female role models in historical fiction from the Amelia Bloomer Project(2016-05-30) Kinnaird, Kimberly Campbell; Vardell, Sylvia M.; Akin, Lynn; Haag, Claudia; Richey, JenniferDue to the shortage of female characters in historical texts, it is important for librarians and educators to share historical fiction novels containing strong female protagonists with children. While guidelines are available for critiquing authenticity in historical fiction and empowerment of female characters, these approaches are rarely combined. This study posed the following research question: What is the relationship between Boreen’s three stages of historical authenticity (1999) and Brown and St. Clair’s three levels of female empowerment (2002) in the historical middle school novels selected in the first decade of the ALA Amelia Bloomer Project list? To examine authenticity and empowerment, twenty-seven historical fiction novels were selected from the Amelia Bloomer Project. Each conflict between the female protagonist and society’s expectations was assigned one of Boreen’s authenticity levels and one of Brown and St. Clair’s empowerment stages. Frequencies and correlations were analyzed, showing a strong correlation of .863 between female protagonists’ authenticity and empowerment. Boreen’s most historically accurate protagonist (30.8%) correlated most often with Brown and St. Clair’s heroine that is strong on a limited scale (34.6%). Boreen’s historical role model acting courageously within society’s bounds (56.8%) correlated most often with Brown and St. Clair’s female character that defies society for personal ambition (55.9%). Boreen’s social renegade (12.4%) correlated most often with Brown and St. Clair’s role model that acts as a catalyst for change (9.5%). Secondary analyses showed the largest percentage of books was set in the United States (44.4%), accounting for 52.2% of all the books placed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The sources of conflict correlations gradually increased following the escalation of the protagonists’ actions from internal conflict, to interpersonal disputes, to eventually confronting society. These results mirrored the progressive stages of Boreen’s (1999) historical role models and Brown and St. Clair’s (2002) female empowerment levels. In conclusion, analyzing female characters’ levels of authenticity and empowerment is one method of evaluating and understanding historical literature for young people. The depiction of brave girls struggling to make their own choices in life may be particularly motivational for today’s readers.Item Bibliographic control of government publications in Thailand(1979-08) Bhakdibutr, Chirawan; Turner, Frank; Kunkle, Hannah; Marino, Samuel; Monroe, J. Hamilton; Short, RodneyItem Bibliographic controls and services in Egypt: A survey and study with emphasis on the role of the Egyptian National Library(1978-12) Alawady, Sana M.; Bertalan, Frank J.; Sheldon, Brooke; Turner, Frank; Kunkle, Hannah; Nicosia, Alfonso; McFarland, JohnItem A cautionary tale: Mixed methods analysis of elementary school library folklore collections(2016-05-09) Enochs, Elizabeth Lee; Vardell, Sylvia M.; Akin, Lynn; Hoffman, GretchenUsing mixed methods and framed in community psychology theory, this collection analysis study examined the folklore holdings of 77 elementary libraries in one large, urban school district in order to address three questions for research: What are features of elementary school library folklore collections? How is folklore used in elementary school instruction? and Do elementary school library folklore collections support instruction? Quantitative metrics for analysis included multiple linear regression, relative use factor, and Spearman s rho correlations. Most collections comprised 3.96% folklore titles, well below the 5% recommended in the literature. The majority of collections were 18 years old. Average folklore circulation accounted for 2.27% of total circulation. Age was not associated with the circulation of the folklore collection; however, size of the folklore collection predicted about 15% of circulation, and larger folklore collections circulated more than smaller. Semi-structured interviews with teachers from the schools in the quantitative sample furnished a narrative explaining teachers use of library folklore in instruction. Teachers use folklore to teach culture, math, and science. They provide classroom sets of folklore from the school library during close study of the genre. Merged with the quantitative findings, these interviews explained the need to care for older collections, to maximize the size of the folklore collection, and to select well-illustrated folklore titles spanning cultures and reading levels. A chief lesson from this cumulative collection analysis is that library collections are best analyzed in the context of the community where they are used.Item Communication of community college library promotion to distance learners: Librarians' practices and perceptions as determined via e-surveys and telephone interviews(2008-12) Austin, Sandra; Akin, Lynn; Battle, Joel; Jeng, Ling HweyDistance learners' lack of knowledge about available library resources and services is the research problem addressed in this study. It is significant to Library and Information Studies because library professionals are called upon to consider and examine their methods and practices of how they create a presence among their distance learners. This signals librarians to make adjustments to bridge the gap between what is available and students' actual use of the library. This research sought to find out how community college libraries might establish a presence among new distance education students that would result in their greater use of library resources and services. How librarians feel they achieve library promotion to distance education students and the extent to which promotion is carried out for the purpose of reaching those students are the focus of this study. Information is provided concerning how community college libraries can promote themselves among new distance learners via means that may positively impact use of library resources and services. The Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) 2005 Academic Library Trends & Statistics (Associate's Colleges) was used to acquire the population of academic institutions used in this study. A pretest of the research instrument, a questionnaire, concerning the promotion practices of community college libraries in regard to distance learners, was conducted. Every fifth institution listed among those in the population was selected for participation in the pretest, with a total of fifty-four being selected. As a result of the pretest findings, the questionnaire was revised for the actual research study. The research sample of 204 libraries was sent an initial email message, which was the cover letter, and an attachment to the cover letter that contained the questionnaire. A follow-up message was sent to libraries that did not respond initially. Overall, thirty percent of the sample responded to the electronic questionnaire The data were tabulated, Once tabulated, the data were placed onto charts that describe the activity of the libraries' promotion activities, as related to distance learners. These statistics were examined to show the relationships among library promotions, distance learners, and the promoted benefits of the library services and materials. Pearson Correlation two-tailed tests were used to show relationships among particular variables and the overall growth of distance education library usage resulting from promotion efforts. Telephone interviews with librarians of the community colleges followed administration of the questionnaire. Of the fifty-nine questionnaire respondents, a sample of twenty librarians was interviewed concerning their library promotion practices. This sample was selected based upon the systematic sampling method. Sixteen of the twenty librarians were successfully contacted and interviewed. The data from the telephone interviews were tabulated and analyzed to show the commonality among responses and to show the differences that illuminate what some of the forces are behind library promotion to distance learners: what is practiced, what is not practiced and why not, and how promotion is accomplished. As a result of the findings, it may be concluded that the majority of libraries in the study use more than one means of creating initial communications between the library and distance learners and that growth has also occurred in the use of library resources and services among distance education students. Data indicate that promoted benefits that correspond with the promoted product also positively impact consumption of the product, in that the benefit is of a utilitarian or a hedonic nature in regard to consumer needs. Those libraries that used only one means of promotion or none at all, experienced usage losses, no growth, or very little growth. The telephone interviews revealed that while libraries are incorporating innovatively proactive means of reaching and serving distance learners, more planning, initiatives, and library awareness assessments are needed for furthering the presence of the library among distance learners. Such efforts could prove to increase library usage and student productivity.Item A comparative analysis of library-learning resources programs in the public junior colleges of Texas(1975-05-31) Nieball, Mary Louise (Roy); Houk, Wallace; Kunkle, Hannah; Marino, Samuel; Nicosia, Alfonso; Pfister, FrederickItem A comparative analysis of occupations presented in children's realistic fiction, 1950-1954 and 1970-1974(1977-05-31) Paris, Janelle Avenell; Kunkle, Josephine; Turner, Frank; Marino, Samuel; Bertalan, Frank; Nicosia, AlfonsoItem A comparative analysis of the administrative operations of fourteen government-supported university libraries in Thailand using the criteria contained in the draft University Library Standards, 1980, of the Office of University Affairs in Thailand(1982-12) Techamanee, Yupin; Turner, Frank; Smith, Lotsee; Nicosia, AlfonsoItem A comparative content analysis of the temporal sequences, points of view, and perspectives employed in the 1996 Best Books for Young Adults' novels and the 1996 Young Adults' Choices' novels(1997-12) Cox, Ruth; Carter, Betty; McGregor, Joy; Wilkes, AdelineThe purpose of this study was to analyze and compare the temporal sequences, points of view, and perspectives employed in the novels on the 1996 Best Books for Young Adults' (BBYA) list and the 1996 Young Adults' Choices' (YA Choices) list. An analysis form was created to record coded data in relation to frequency and length. The temporal data coded and analyzed include the predominant narrative, as well as the frequency and length of the dialogue and narrative past reference, future reference, and present reference temporal shifts employed. The predominant point of view and the frequency and length of the first person; second person; third person, limited; and third person, omniscient point of view shifts employed were coded and analyzed. The predominant perspective, and the frequency and length of perspective shifts were coded and analyzed. Comparisons were made between the two groups of novels in relation to the coded categories. The BBYA novels have significantly more temporal sequence shifts. Both the BBYA and YA Choices' novels include more dialogue temporal shifts than narrative temporal shifts. In relation to narrative temporal shifts, the BBYA novels include a greater number of narrative shifts per title than do the YA Choices' novels. The first person point of view is the most prevalent point of view employed in novels on both lists, although more frequently in the BBYA novels than in the YA Choices' novels. A majority of all the novels analyzed were written with a predominant point of view and perspective.Item Database ownership and copyright issues among automated library networks: An analysis and case study(1988-05-31) Franklin, Janice R.; Swigger, Keith; Curry Evelyn; Sheldon, Brooke; Turner, Frank; Edwards, Don E.The purpose of this study is to analyze issues of data base ownership and copyright among automated library networks using a social and political model. An attempt has been made to describe these issues using an approach which is not based on legal or moral opinions of right or wrong among network parties. The study explores the possibility that the barriers to networking regarding data ownership and copyright are not specific to the context of libraries, but are instead part of a larger recurring theme in social groups, organizations, and systems. The social network model is significant because it explains ownership issues as a consequence of the dynamic nature of library network relationships, which ahve been complicated by environmental forces and a confusion of network roles. The research focuses on the Online Computer Library Center's decision to copyright the data base and the reactions of regional network and libraries. The history of the issue is traced up to the date of copyright in 1984. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources, including materials from teh archives of regional networks and interviews with nine leaders in library networking. A descriptive research methodology is used to analyze the data, and a case study of the Southeastern Library Network and its relationship with OCLC is included. The debate over ownership is a direct outgrowth of issues of centralization versus decentralization between OCLC and regional networks. These issues have strained relationships between OCLC and regional networks that attemped to develop their own services independently. Resolving the conflict will require overcoming the problems of governance, competition, communication, policy formulation, and role definition which recur in library network relationships. These issues must be resolved in order to share information internationally and to link national bibliographic utilities and information networks in a common system.Item The development of a retrospective national bibliography: A case study of El Salvador(1997-05) Calimano, Ivan E.; Curry, Evelyn L.; Rodriguez, Ketty; Longoria, Frank; Swigger, KeithThe purpose of this case study was to provide a descriptive account of the development of the retrospective national bibliography of El Salvador. The publishing history of El Salvador is not as lengthy as that of other countries in Central America; it dates from 1824 when the printing press was introduced in the country. Hence, the case study of retrospective Salvadoran imprints was feasible. The researcher used as a platform recommendations of the 1977 International Congress on National Bibliographies (ICNB) organized by Unesco within the framework of its General Information Programme in collaboration with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and adapts it to the Salvadoran bibliographic situation. The objective was to create guidelines for the compilation of the retrospective national bibliography. The investigator spent approximately seven months in El Salvador examining its bibliographic infrastructure (e.g., identifying information and physical resources, library personnel, etc.). Further steps taken in the development of the guidelines were: the identification of a set of international standards for the retrospective bibliography (e.g., AACR2r, USMARC, etc.); the selection of a national library collection on which to apply the standards (i.e., the Gallardo Library in Nueva San Salvador); the adaptation of the standards to the local situation; the training of staff to use the international standards; the cataloging of a subset of documents (2,000 items were processed following the prescribed guidelines); and recommendations for the actual creation of the bibliography. Research outcomes have implications for cooperation among libraries in the country and the coordination of efforts to share resources. It is up to Salvadoran authorities and the local library community to continue this project--from the compilation of the retrospective bibliography through the eventual publication of a current national bibliography.Item The development of the Standards for College Libraries(2004-05) Swinney, Victoria Kathleen; Swigger, Keith; Westbrook, LynnThis study traces the history and sources of the Standards for College Libraries from the first committee discussion in the late 1950' s to 2000. Changes in the leadership of the American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) strongly influenced the process of revising those standards. Changes in higher education standards and the practice of college librarianship also shaped the standards. Throughout all of the versions on the standards, basic support for the central role of the library in collegiate education and faculty status for librarians remained unchanged. The 1959 Standards for College Libraries represented a response to calls for policies and methods for improving smaller college libraries. They set ambitious goals with quantitative minima for all college libraries. An unsuccessful attempt to revise them responded to calls for more flexible standards focused on actual practice and avoided quantitative minima. A new committee developed a consensus document approved in 1975 that returned to quantitative minima and introduced a grading system that allowed libraries to compare their collection, staffing, and facilities to libraries serving similar institutions, with the majority of libraries receiving a grade of C. This scoring system and the omission of audiovisual materials from the collection formula drew considerable criticism. The new edition of the standards in 1986 maintained much of the structure and content of the 1975 standards, but addressed criticism of the scoring system and the omission of audiovisual materials from the collections formula by making it easier for libraries to receive a grade of A and adding audiovisual materials and resource sharing transactions to the collection standard. The increasing complexity of the ACRL and the rising influence of smaller units led to a shift in responsibility for the standards to the College Libraries Section Standards Committee in the 1990's. This group wrote a minor revision of the standards in 1995 and the final revision-of the standards in 2000. This final revision focused on individualized assessment and replaced national normative quantitative standards with suggestions for local quantitative assessment, while maintaining the vision of the library developed in the earlier standards.Item Do “Quick Picks” book covers appeal to middle school readers? The impact of covers on self -selection of fiction books in the middle school library setting(2006-05) Jones, Leigh Ann; Vardell, Sylvia M.Middle school students use a variety of methods to self-select fiction books in the school library setting. Among these are choosing the book by an appealing cover, the author, the genre, the cover blurb, the length, its place in a series, or by recommendation from a friend or librarian. By using the covers of the fiction books reviewed for sixth, seventh, and eighth graders of the 2005 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list, this quantitative study sought to determine how book covers impact the self-selection strategies of middle school readers and whether specific aspects of the covers hold appeal to these students. The study also explored the relationship of grade, gender, and level of reading enjoyment on the selection of fiction books. A self-selected sample of 250 students from a north central Texas middle school completed an online questionnaire using covers from the 2005 Quick Picks list. Students indicated specific elements they liked and marked which of the 19 books they would check out based on merits of the cover alone. These readers specified how they usually choose fiction books in the school library and noted whether they love, like, or didn't like to read. Data from questionnaires were statistically analyzed, and by using a nonparametric analysis, the Friedman post hoc test, it was determined that cover was the most influential factor for readers in this study. By using modal responses for specific attributes, it was learned that students prefer font more often than the elements of character(s) or pictures, colors, design, or mood. A student's grade and his/her level of reading enjoyment were not shown to be statistically significant. Females were slightly more impacted by covers than were males. Librarians who wish to be effective in readers' advisory must read widely and may wish to incorporate the images of, and information about, book covers into their booktalks for students.Item An evaluation of audiovisual educational media programs in selected AAA high schools in the state of Missouri, 1977-1978(1979-05) Denman, Margaret Woods; Kunkle, Hannah; Nicosia, Alfonso; Bertalan, Frank; Marino, Samuel; Turner, Frank; Sheldon, Brooke; Stamper, SilasItem An evaluation of the audiovisual (educational media) agencies, materials and equipment in selected public school of the state of Mississippi(1979-08) Palling, Barbara Roberta; Nicosia, Alfonso; Sheldon, Brooke; Miniter, John; Marino, Samuel; Bertalin, Frank; Palmore, Ted; Turner, FrankItem Examining the fieldwork experience from the site supervisor perspective: A mixed-methods study using Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development theory(2013-05) Brannon, Sian; Akin, Lynn; Swigger, Keith; Golden, JanineThe purpose of this study was to identify feelings and behaviors of fieldwork supervisors in public libraries using Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development theory as a background for design, analysis, and discussion of results. This research sought to find out how fieldwork supervisors perform initial assessments of their fieldwork students, what activities and assignments are conducted during the experience, how the supervisors assess the students, and how they feel about their role in the process. The study began with an online survey (77 respondents), continued with 25 interviews, and concluded with a content analysis of 47 evaluation forms provided by library and information science education programs. Results of the survey and interviews were compared to the evaluation forms and the American Library Association's Core Competences of Librarianship. Results give a better understanding of the thoughts and actions of fieldwork supervisors in public libraries, and a new fieldwork evaluation form is proposed.Item An exploration of the experiences of pioneering online library and information science graduate students in the 1990s(2011-05) Shelnutt, Cherri; Akin, Lynn; Vardell, Sylvia M.; Hoffman, GretchenThis researcher explored the impact of the experience of early library and information science (LIS) online graduate courses from the perspective of the pioneering students involved in such courses in the 1990s. The study identified some of the experiences of LIS graduate students who took courses online during the 1990s, the time period marking the beginning of this form of educational delivery in the library and information studies field. Focusing on Rogers' theory of the diffusion of innovation, the researcher used an online questionnaire with quantitative questions as well as open-ended ones. This historical study obtained descriptions, experiences, and stories from 185 early student participants in their own words. The more quantitative questions provided background information about the LIS online graduate courses from a student perspective. Using coding, the researcher analyzed the text responses and identified categories commonly reported by the early LIS graduate students who participated in this study. The resulting categories expand knowledge about LIS education in general and early LIS online learning in particular.Item Exploring the guidelines for library services to distance education programs(Texas Woman's University, 2005-12) Latham, ClaraDistance education, coursework taken outside the traditional campus classroom setting, has become increasingly popular over the years as students seek to improve their marketability while currently employed or otherwise prevented from attending colleges as resident students. Universities which offer distance education programs continually seek to enhance their appeal to students by providing programs that are convenient and as equivalent to their resident programs as possible. Services provided to distance learning students must be equivalent, even if provided in a different manner, to that provided for on-campus students. The research project undertaken seeks to explore the various elements of providing library services to distance education programs. The elements of these services are analyzed relative to the Association of College and Research Libraries' Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services. The question of useful standards is thoroughly analyzed in order to clarify the role of library service in the overall provision of distance education programs. The ACRL Guidelines, the most complete guidelines available for ·measuring library services for distance education programs, are a standard set of guidelines recognized by all levels of higher education as created by a well respected, authoritative agency. By rating these guidelines, operational definitions are set in order to analyze services provided by various libraries in different settings and sizes. The major categories of the guidelines: management, finances, personnel, facilities, resources, services, documentation and library education, are converted into measurable, operational activities. A questionnaire is sent to library services representatives (either distance education librarians or directors) in universities across the United States who agreed to participate, asking that the guidelines be rated for usefulness and practicality, from essential to useless. Analyzing the questionnaire responses reveal several concepts. A partnership between the distance education library staff and the computing center is one of the most essential concepts. Adequate funding for the distance education component of library services is considered essential by the respondents, as is easy to access virtual services. Another essential concept revealed in the study is timeliness of delivery of materials. A complete summary of the results and recommendations for further study in this area comprise the remainder of the research presentation.
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