<p> The purpose of the research is to explore the cultural intelligence (CQ) of law firm librarians in the United States. This dissertation is motivated by three research questions: (a) What is the overall level of CQ of participating law firm librarians? (b) What variations among participating law firm librarians, if any, exist among the four capabilities of CQ?; and (c) What viewpoints do the librarians have about the value and importance of CQ within their law firms? This research contributes to the limited amount of empirical literature on CQ. Officially defined in early 2000s, the CQ framework is what guides this study. The research extends the application of the CQ framework by applying it to an area not formerly studied, law firm libraries.</p><p> A concurrent nested strategy model was used in order to gain a broader perspective of CQ. The researcher conducted a mixed-methods study using a web-based survey process incorporating the CQS, an instrument that measures CQ level, demographic and open-ended items. The target population consisted of librarians within the United States who currently work in private law firm libraries. Of the initial 170 individuals who responded to the request, 70 provided survey responses. The sample was based on self-selection from those that were members of two professional associations. </p><p> Based on a triangulation of the findings, four conclusions were made: (a) law firm librarians have a strong sense of value and importance of CQ to their law firms, (b) law firm librarians have varying levels of CQ within each of the four CQ factors, (c) the librarian's feel valued and appreciated within their law firm, and (d) law firm librarians cope with cultural challenges and have to adapt to unfamiliar environments. The findings support the research questions and prompt thinking of how to incorporate CQ into training, maximize the benefits of CQ with stakeholders that utilize the library services, and how law firms may use CQ to help with industry changes. This research provides a glimpse into CQ and additional important issues to law librarians within law firms in the United States including their value within a law firm.</p>

<p> Dissemination of news and information is often challenging in small, rural communities, where sprawling geography and limited resources can limit the effectiveness of communication systems. While traditional media and local organizations attempt to inform the public through newspapers, flyers, radio, social media, and word of mouth, no one means of communication is entirely successful in reaching the masses. Rural institutions and organizations often lack a means of communicating current news to members of small towns due to the void of an integrated information infrastructure, or <i>infostructure </i>. </p><p> Borrowing from the framework of Communication Infrastructure Theory and previously suggested models for community infrastructure, this study was an effort to better understand how people in this small town communicate&mdash;how they create, disseminate and prefer to receive information about the community. This exploratory, qualitative, case study examined communications in one small, rural town to determine whether or not the library might be able to partner with local media, resident networks, and other organizations in the community, to maximize available resources, eliminate duplication, and increase overall effectiveness in the communication infrastructure. This new model would place the public library, or anchor institution, at the center of the storytelling network, as the hub for local news and information. </p><p> Through interviews and focus groups with 32 members of the community under study, I identified ways in which people communicate, connections between storytelling agents within the local storytelling network, and voids that, if addressed might improve the community&rsquo;s ability to communicate in general. This study suggested ways that libraries might serve a role as the anchor of anchors for communication in rural communities.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation was an explanatory sequential mixed methods study that sought to understand academic librarians&rsquo; involvement and experience in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Specifically, the researcher studied academic librarians&rsquo; teacher identity development through SoTL. Quantitative data were collected from a survey sent to the Association of College and Research Libraries Information Literacy listserv. Semi-structured interviews with seven academic instruction librarians who took part in the survey provided qualitative data that complemented and built upon the survey results. The theoretical framework, Communities of Practice, guided and supported the research. Results from the study indicated that academic instruction librarians are involved in SoTL for a variety of reasons, but primarily because they believe participation in SoTL improves their teaching. Also, the null hypothesis of <i>if librarians engage in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, their identities will be the same as they were before</i> was rejected, and the research hypothesis was accepted. Engagement in SoTL does impact academic instruction librarians&rsquo; teacher identity. After involvement in SoTL most research participants reported that their view of themselves as a teacher grew. Participation in SoTL also impacted academic instruction librarians&rsquo; instructional practices. After participation in SoTL, study participants reported an increase in their attitude toward self-improvement and in their use of active learning strategies. These study findings have implications for Library and Information Science (LIS) graduate schools, academic library administrations, and professional development organizations. </p><p>

This study explored the roles of graduate theological students' religious faith and degree program affiliation in their information behaviors, particularly their degree-related research behaviors. In 2015, religious intolerance continues to stratify barriers between communities. One domain where faith significantly affects student life is in graduate studies of religion and theology. This study's purpose was to explore problems in information action inherent to the dichotomy between academic study of theology that leads to Master of Arts (MA) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees and professional study of theology that leads to Master of Divinity (MDiv) and Doctor of Theology (ThD) degrees. To locate the most appropriate research subjects for qualitative inquiry, this study first investigated the content of PhD and ThD dissertation acknowledgements using bibliometric analysis. The frequency with which the PhD and ThD dissertations' acknowledgements acknowledge affiliates within their authors' own degree programs and religious faith traditions guided the research design for subsequent interviewing of MA and MDiv students about the roles of their religious faith, degree program affiliation and interpersonal information sources in their research processes. Data were collected, coded and analyzed as a lens into the relationships between authors, affiliations and acknowledgements. The qualitative component - intensive interviewing about Master's students' research processes - qualified the results of the quantitative analysis of PhD and ThD students' interpersonal information source preferences manifest in their dissertations' acknowledgements. The study found that information behavior does relate to degree program affiliations and students' religious faith, thus degree program affiliation and religious faith background should be considered in research consultations and bibliographic instruction in theological libraries. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Library and Information Studies in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 10, 2015. / informal communication, information behavior, interpersonal information sources, religious faith, social network, theological degree program / Includes bibliographical references. / Don Latham, Professor Directing Dissertation; Matthew Goff, University Representative; Gary Burnett, Committee Member; Paul Marty, Committee Member.

<p> This exploratory study identified the types of experiential field-based learning (FBL) courses included in the top 20 U.S. two-year MBA programs identified by the <i>2015 U.S. News &amp; World Report</i> ranking. The foci of FBL courses are consulting projects in which students work outside the classroom to develop recommendations for solving a real business problem posed by a company or organization. This research analyzed the organizational structure of these courses and in particular, how business librarians, faculty, career services professionals, and other expert advisors supported the student teams in these courses. The research utilized a mixed methods approach, which began with an online survey of business librarians from the 20 programs, and continued with interviews, website analysis, and the development and analysis of six in-depth case studies. Theoretical support for this research drew from the field of sociology, with a dual focus on role theory and the concept of &ldquo;jurisdictional claim&rdquo; posed by Abbott&rsquo;s 1988 theory of professions. </p><p> This research informs new ways to conceptualize the design of FBL courses and the structure of embedded librarianship support with social network models that represent the engagement levels of various roles. Beyond the opportunity to work on real business projects, some additional benefits to students of FBL identified were practicing teamwork and learning from the field of consulting to apply to this work. The diverse roles that provided team support also helped the students learn how to make effective use of knowledge experts. Constraints to this pedagogy included working within an academic timeframe and having access to enough individuals with the right expertise to provide the customized attention required. Other factors included contending with project sponsors that changed their project focus, adapting roles and infrastructure to support FBL, and adequately communicating learning outcomes to all stakeholders.</p><p>

<p> The role of the academic library has shifted from developing book collections to serving the information and technology needs of students and faculty. The needs of library users change more quickly and unpredictably than the needs of books, and library directors have pushed beyond the traditional incremental approach to library development to respond to changing needs. As many universities struggle to balance budgets, library directors must demonstrate the value and demand for library spaces and services to justify investments in construction and renovation projects. This study investigates the reasons that the new library space projects were undertaken and the forces driving decisions about investments in the library facilities. The cases in this dissertation present studies of three private, non-profit liberal arts institutions in the Eastern United States that have recently invested in major renovation or construction projects for new library spaces. At each site, interviews and focus group sessions were conducted with librarians, students, faculty, and library administrators. Archival material was researched to supplement the data collected from the subjects of the interviews. A multi-lens framework of strategic change is used to examine the forces and factors that influenced the decisions to pursue new library spaces in each case study. The institutions in the study successfully developed new learning commons and library spaces through renovation or construction projects. Each of the libraries in the study faced similar factors leading to a new space, including overcrowding, interest from students in collaborative learning, increased demand for access to technology, and the decline in the use of the printed book. The strong leadership of the library director, with support from the institution&rsquo;s president, contributed to the success of each project in the study. The importance of this study derives from its examination of the changing factors and forces that drive the uses of new library spaces, highlighting the need to build flexibility into new construction projects.</p><p>

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

This dissertation focused on the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library, located in the Harlem neighborhood. It focused on the library under the leadership of Ernestine Rose, who was the head librarian from 1920-1942. During this time, the library became a community center with diverse and vibrant programming, and an important influence on the Harlem Renaissance. This study focuses on a longer time period than has been examined previously, and also introduces theory testing to the document analysis, which is an underused method of historical analysis in Information Studies currently. This study uses the theory of Information Worlds, which contextualizes information behaviors within the social worlds individuals inhabit, and introduces the Change in Historic Institutions model, which provides a framework for describing change events. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2015. / May 29, 2015. / Ernestine Rose, Harlem, library history, New York, public library, theory testing / Includes bibliographical references. / Melissa Gross, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jennifer Koslow, University Representative; Gary Burnett, Committee Member; Richard J. Urban, Committee Member.

Through both persuasive and prescriptive texts from church library advocates and contemporaneous academic work from scholars of library and information studies, this dissertation examines the twentieth century mainline Protestant church library movement in the United States. Focus on this understudied movement, the dissertation argues, constitutes something of a “missing link” in the study of American religion and information in the twentieth century; study of the ideological underpinning and policy best-practices point towards mainline Protestant understandings not only of information, and its uses and dangers, but of institutional authority in the twentieth century. Further, the dissertation argues that unpacking the working understandings of “religion” cultivated by twentieth century scholars of libraries and information can add to our historiographic understanding of how “religion” emerged as an object of study in the academy in the twentieth century. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 19, 2018. / American Religious History, Church Libraries, Twentieth Century / Includes bibliographical references. / Amanda Porterfield, Professor Directing Dissertation; Don Latham, University Representative; Michael McVicar, Committee Member; John Corrigan, Committee Member.