Four case studies were undertaken to explore the planning strategies and outcomes related to information technology in small college libraries in the early 1990's. Four small colleges were visited in the United States which had recently completed and occupied new library buildings. Data was gathered in summer, 1993. / Findings showed that planning conducted subsequent to a thorough needs assessment was the most successful in fulfilling the potential of the library building. Comprehensive institutions were found to be overall more inclusive in their planning process, and thus more successful when compared to liberal arts colleges. / Use of a consultant to write the building plan made it more likely that all operational areas of the building were treated thoroughly in the building plan. / Retrospective conversion projects were found to have no real impact on building projects, since none of the institutions studied was currently engaged in one. / Video display unit emissions were not observed to have taken into account in planning for the library facilities in the study, when those facilities are compared against guidelines found in the literature. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-03, Section: A, page: 0407. / Major Professor: Thomas L. Hart. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The purpose of this study was to identify the forces, including the personalities, which influenced the establishment, development and growth of public school libraries in Puerto Rico, the main trends in school library services and their contribution to education as seen by participants of the system. / A historical approach, combining documentary analysis, interviews, survey questionnaires and visits to sample school libraries was used to gather the data needed. / Three main trends were found in the school library movement from 1900 to 1984. From 1900 to 1930, the basic elements of a national administrative structure of a school library system were developed. Due to a period of economic crisis, from 1930 to 1952 the school library movement remained stagnant. The period from 1952 to 1984 was the period of greatest growth and change. Centralization of the Program's administration and services as an integral part of the curriculum began to be emphasized. / The main negative factors affecting the establishment, development, and growth of school libraries from 1900 to 1984 were the lack of knowledge of their role in education at all levels, economic support, supportive school library legislation, and the lack of emphasis on reading outside textbooks and on learning to learn skills. / Positive factors influencing the development of school libraries in Puerto Rico were: (a) the support of some school principals, teachers, parents, superintendents and Commissioners or Secretaries of Education, (b) the influence of the United States culture, particularly of its school library movement, (c) the federal funds, (d) the establishment of the school librarian courses at the College of Education and the Graduate School of Librarianship at the University of Puerto Rico, (e) changes in educational policies, (f) the leadership of Carmen Hernandez de Leon, the second Program Director, and (g) the leadership of some school librarians. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-03, Section: A, page: 0666. / Major Professor: John N. DePew. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Of 736 reference librarians at four-year colleges and universities in the United States surveyed about their use of CD-ROM databases for reference purposes, 633 (86%) responded. Almost half (308) are using CD-ROM technology and collectively they own 809 work-stations and use 961 CD-ROM databases. Most (70%/221) not using CD-ROM have plans to acquire it in the future. By 1990, 63% (399) expect to be using CD-ROM for reference purposes. / Student enrollment is the most reliable predictor of CD-ROM use in a surveyed library, although the number of reference librarians, respondent age and size of the reference budget also detected significant differences. About 25% (38) of the institutions with fewer than 1,000 students are using CD-ROM compared to 82% (37) with enrollments exceeding 15,000 students. / The popularity of CD-ROM causes many libraries to regulate its use by such measures as requiring appointments and limiting use by length of time or frequency. Measures such as limiting patron use of printers and a policy of encouraging downloading of data for post-processing outside the library are often encountered. Despite such cost-reduction measures, most (60%/141) believe the annual overhead cost per work-station exceeds $250. Barely 2\% (7) find it necessary to have user fees to recover CD-ROM expenses. / Although 65% (200) of the libraries employ special security measures to protect the CD-ROM work-stations, fewer than 1% (2) believe they have serious security problems. Most (83%/520) respondents believe CD-ROM can be a cost-effective alternative to heavily used online databases. Over 80% (508) believe use of CD-ROM in a library has a positive effect on patron image of academic librarians. Significantly, 75% (238) of the librarians not now using CD-ROM share this belief. A majority of librarians (59%/182) using CD-ROM expect it will lessen future demands for printed reference sources. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0565. / Major Professor: Ronald Blazek. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

In recent years, financial support for academic libraries has been inadequate to meet the many demands that these types of institutions face. The library literature has increasingly recommended that libraries become involved in fund raising activities in order to supplement the support they receive from their parent institution. However, little is known regarding what type of fund raising program is best suited for a particular type of institution. The purpose of this study is to investigate how pervasive fund raising activities are at academic libraries in the United States, to ascertain what character they take, how they differ between sizes and types of institutions, how success may be related to these and other factors, and to determine what impact these efforts are having on library programs and operations. / Library directors were surveyed at 600 randomly selected colleges and universities, proportionally stratified by Carnegie Foundation type, and classified as being baccalaureate granting colleges or above. Usable responses were received from 517 institutions, or 86.1% of the libraries in the sample. / Responses indicate that approximately 66% of all academic libraries engage in fund raising activities, with research libraries being more likely to engage in fund raising than other types of libraries. Most libraries take part in fund raising activities because of the rising cost of information technology, along with the fact that they are encouraged to do so by their parent institution. They engage in a wide variety of activities in order to raise funds. The size and type of institution appears to be a significant factor in which types of fund raising activities are engaged in and how successful they are. / This report examines which types of fund raising activities are most successful, how fund raising income is utilized by academic libraries, how fund raising efforts are organized and staffed, what role friends of the library groups play in fund raising initiatives, how fund raising is related to levels of support from the parent institution, and why some libraries choose not to engage in fund raising. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-12, Section: A, page: 4594. / Major Professor: John N. DePew. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Media literacy skills are important for students of today and citizens of tomorrow. Americans get much of their information from television and other visual technologies. The new information skills involved in media literacy such as critical viewing, knowledge of production techniques, and an understanding of the economic bottomline of media productions, need to be taught in our schools. One valuable method for students to learn media literacy skills is through their own media productions. In Florida, a statewide competition for students in kindergarten through college is provided by the Jim Harbin Award Student Media Festival. / This dissertation reports on an investigation that was conducted, using case study research, at four schools which represented the four level divisions of the Harbin competition, K-3rd, 4th-6th, 7th-9th, and 10th-12th. The research was based on documents, questionnaires, fifty hours of observation, nearly forty interviews with principals, school library media specialists, teachers, and students. / This researcher, using the qualitative method, synthesized the results of the investigation into eight broad concepts from which practical and theoretical frameworks for building a media literacy program might be developed. (1) Schools must have sources for funding other than the regular state budget. (2) Schools must have positive leadership for media literacy programs at the district level. (3) Schools must have administrators who believe in the media literacy program and make it part of the curriculum. (4) The SLMS must be committed to the importance of media literacy skills and convinced of the benefits for the students. (5) The SLMS must have assistance from a second SLMS, aides, or volunteers to help with the work of the library media center. (6) Schools must have teachers who have an interest in media and are flexible. (7) A means for presentation and recognition of the media productions must be provided at the school level as well as at the state level. (8) Students must be given the opportunity to select their topic and time to work on it as individuals, in pairs, or as small groups. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-07, Section: A, page: 2464. / Major Professor: Thomas Hart. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The dual purpose of this study was to identify a corpus of books which portrayed reading and writing while featuring African American characters in home, neighborhood, and other non-school community settings and to determine if differences existed in such portrayals by African American and non-African American authors and illustrators. / Twenty books were identified as relevant to the study. The text and illustrations of each book were analyzed according to two literacy portrayal categories which were further defined by six sub-categories and various category indicators and indicator exemplars. The two literacy portrayal categories were literacy displays and literacy events. / Both descriptive and statistical analyses were performed on the data. Descriptive analysis yielded the following findings: (1) The African American racial group offered the majority of literacy portrayals. (2) Within the African American racial group, African American illustrators offered almost three times as many literacy portrayals as African American authors. (3) The literacy displays category was portrayed far more frequently than the literacy events category. (4) When literacy events were portrayed, reading literacy events outnumbered writing literacy events. (5) Negative literacy portrayals were minimal. Statistical analysis determined that the African American racial group portrayed significantly more literacy displays and literacy events. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-04, Section: A, page: 1167. / Major Professor: F. William Summers. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The purpose of this dissertation was to describe the information needs and the information seeking behavior of rural physicians. The data were collected from a sample of twelve rural physicians in Central Florida from face-to-face interviews, and from observations of physicians' offices, the rural community, discussions with physicians' nurses, office personnel, and observations of hospital libraries when they existed. Multiple challenges face researchers attempting to interview rural physicians. / From a review of patient charts, 34% of the charts produced unique factual medical patient care questions. Seventy-five percent of the questions were on treatment, 14.7% on diagnosis, 8.3% on etiology, and 2.1% on the psychological aspects of disease. Rural physicians place similar emphasis on the use of information sources. All physicians rely on colleagues; 91.7% attend medical meetings; 75% subscribe to medical journals, and 75% own medical textbooks. Of the physicians with access to a hospital library that met certain criteria of eligibility imposed by the study, 16.7% use the library frequently and 50% never use the library. Physicians without access to a hospital library own more journals and textbooks than do those physicians with access to a hospital library; however, ownership is most likely due to individual differences rather than the existence of the library since half the physicians did not avail themselves of the opportunity to use the hospital library. / Lack of time due to long, hectic patient days and medical problems unique to rural practice were obstacles to information retrieval for patient care. Physicians need immediate access to high quality, synthesized answers to specific patient care questions at the time of patient contact. Information must be up-to-date, although not necessarily state-of-the-art. A database composed of concise, synthesized information, written by an honorary panel of physicians, designed to actually answer rural physicians' patient care questions would facilitate the information retrieval for rural physicians. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 3937. / Major Professor: Ronald Blazek. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Prior gender research from other fields prompted this exploratory study of the impact of gender on the information seeking experience of high school students doing library research projects. The researcher used the cognitive, affective, and sensorimotor framework delineated in Kuhlthau's Information Search Process model. Kuhlthau's Process Survey and Teacher's Assessments of Focus provided categorical quantitative data analyzed with chi square tests. Participants kept search journals and responded to freewriting prompts which were coded and analyzed qualitatively. / To describe both common and divergent experience of the genders, the researcher constructed a model of nine Information Search Styles based on level of focus (Lost, Tourists, and Navigators) and kind of involvement (Reluctant, Detached, and Involved). These styles were related to the preferences and abilities of the student, the requirements of the assignment or information need, and possible differences in developmental level and epistemological stance. / Several search styles evidenced gender tendencies. However, gender representation was balanced in the search styles of highly successful students--those who were detached from their topics but formulated a clear focus, Detached Navigators, and those who were involved and also clearly focused, Involved Navigators. / Gender related differences were found in topics, task perception, and affective experience. Topics selected for study followed gender lines. Males tended to emphasize information collection and to detach themselves from their topics; females to be more reflective and to express more affect. / Kuhlthau's model was found to most accurately represent the knowledge construction experience of those students who were clearly focused. Interest and confidence, however, did not always increase with focus formulation, especially for some girls, nor did less clearly focused students consistently experience more anxiety and frustration as Kuhlthau's model predicts. / The researcher's model incorporates a diverse range of information seeking styles reflecting students' abilities and desires to be independent information users. It redefines success to include information exploration, involvement, and affective state as well as the traditional success indicated by focus formulation. The gender balanced expression of voice by the most successful students offers the promise that both males and females have the potential to access the power of ideas and information. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: A, page: 4187. / Major Professor: F. William Summers. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The University of Huddersfield Press, re-launched in 2010, is an open access publisher of peer reviewed journals, monographs and sound recordings. The research to inform this thesis was conducted between 2011 and 2015. The primary research question of this thesis and accompanying business plan is to demonstrate how the University of Huddersfield Press can establish a viable and innovative business model. Subsidiary research questions are to establish how the output of the Press will contribute to and enhance the University’s strategic objectives and to indicate how the Press, as an open access publisher, can contribute to the world of scholarly communication by increasing the literature on New University Presses. As such, a number of chapters have been published as journal articles. The thesis introduces the University of Huddersfield Press before setting out the motivation, background and focus of the study. The rise of New University Presses (NUPs), the open access movement, the role of the repository and the library as publisher are examined and placed in context to the Press. The four cases studies included in this thesis are not multiple case studies, rather they are embedded units of analysis in a single practice based case study, which allows the reader to follow a number of different reading paths. The case studies use observation, in depth investigations and a personal account of the author’s work in developing the Press, which will give new insight into open access publishing by NUPs. The first case study presents data and findings regarding the Press monograph publishing imitative. It draws on external literature and reflections of experience of the Press in order to derive lessons for best practice on future management of the Press. The second case study takes an in depth look at journal publishing within the Press. It looks at how the Huddersfield Open Access Publishing (HOAP) Project was used to launch a number of successful journals using the institutional repository and has helped to build the reputation of the Press in the University and wider community. Lessons learned are examined in order to recommend a more sustainable future for the Press. The third case study involves one of the journals to be published by the Press, Fields: journal of Huddersfield student research. It outlines the rationale for Fields in an institutional context, including the process of setting up an online, open access, multidisciplinary journal for student research. Year one of the project, which saw the journal go from proposal to fully fledged publication, is analysed and lessons learned are discussed. The final case study investigates Huddersfield Contemporary Records (HCR) and presents a case study of music publishing within the University. This case study stands independently and therefore begins with a review of the literature specifically on music industry issues pertinent to HCR. The case study includes a suggested business model and workflow for future releases. The thesis analyses the results and findings from the case studies in order to suggest a viable and innovative business model for the Press. This addresses questions of sustainability, arising from the case studies. The thesis develops Hahn’s programme and publication level business planning in library publishing before providing evidence of the reputational value of the Press to the University of Huddersfield. This is practically demonstrated in the Business Plan, which outlines the future for the Press for the next five years. The accompanying business plan will help to shape future thinking regarding this form of publishing.

<p> This was an evaluation of the pilot program Paws for Reading along with other children&rsquo;s programs ages 5&ndash;11 or Kindergarten through fifth grade, according to their mission in a Midwest public library setting. Public libraries were incorporating more programming into the schedules for the benefit of the patrons and growing communities. In this mixed- methods study, the researcher created instruments including a survey, questionnaire, and observation form to evaluate library programming. The library patrons, staff, and managers gave their opinions about the children&rsquo;s programs provided by the library and the Pilot Program Paws for Reading. Questions included preference in library schedule, program visitation, and if the programs were developed with the library&rsquo;s mission in mind. Growing concerns stemmed from understanding if the programs were following the Midwest public library&rsquo;s mission, and liked by both patrons and staff. Additional concerns were centered on finding best timing of presentations, whether that was time of year or day. Another concern was understanding how the patron received news and updates from the library. No distinct study has been done in regards to the evaluation of a pilot program and the evaluation of similar children&rsquo;s library programs. </p><p> To answer the researcher questions the investigator created evaluation tools for managers, staff, and patrons to respond to after attending the programs. A researcher created observation tool was used to examine the presentation, patrons, and staff during set up, program time, and clean up. The groups evaluated can help determine the usefulness, quality and longevity of the program presented. Multiple themes were represented during the evaluation and included the Midwest public library&rsquo;s mission for the community, convenience of the program, and if the respondents believed the program should continue or if there were changes needed. The program evaluation, according to the hypothesis, declared that participation rates for Paws for Reading was expected to significantly increase compared to the other programs implemented during the evaluation period. In addition, perceptions and perspectives of library programs from managers, staff, parents and caregivers were used to determine if the children&rsquo;s programs were successful and aligned with the library&rsquo;s mission. The results did not yield a significant increase in attendance, but positive and helpful reactions from patrons and staff resulted in an evaluation process that was beneficial for the library and community.</p><p>