Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1994. / Includes tables and appendices. Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Bruce R. Vogeli. Dissertation Committee: J. Philip Smith. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-116).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Leadership, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [3], x, 166 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-142).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-173). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1966. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>This dissertation study examines the role of the public library in fostering digital literacies in underserved Illinois communities. Over the course of two years I collected data on the library as an institution, and as a context, by investigating people, policies, activities and infrastructure related to how individuals learn, comprehend and apply digital technologies in collaboration with and in relation to the library. The data was collected during visits to libraries in sixteen locations around the state with significant levels of poverty, including a selection of rural localities and predominantly African American and Latino communities. Research methods included several kinds of site observation as well as interviews with librarians. As a collective whole, these case studies yield a series of interesting and surprising stories that reflect some of the connections between social roles and service roles, as well as the particular innovations and challenges present in underserved communities. </p><p> These findings support a number of related theories and initiatives, including the need to reconstruct digital literacy as digital <i>literacies </i>, in the plural, and the impetus to see them primarily as a function of community engagement, especially in underserved community settings. The data suggests that library roles related to digital literacy are changing in several substantial ways. First, libraries are moving beyond merely providing internet to proactively promoting assisted public computing. Second, they are shifting their view of themselves as a community space to include leadership in community networking. Finally, they are working to cultivate information experiences that progress beyond consumption to involve a dimension of generative learning. </p><p> When considered in conversation with existing scholarship, these findings have important implications: they show new avenues for research into diversity and social inclusion, critical discourse analysis and dynamic models for learning. They also suggest new directions for the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) and offer a compelling reason for libraries to both participate in and help guide movements and initiatives to promote digital literacies. </p>

<p> This study examines the organizational structures and decision-making processes used by school districts to recruit and hire school librarians. For students to acquire the information and technology literacy education they need, school libraries must be staffed with qualified individuals who can fulfill the librarian&rsquo;s role as leader, teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, and program administrator. Principals are typically given decision rights for hiring staff, including school librarians. Research shows that principals have limited knowledge of the skills and abilities of the school librarian or the specific needs and functions of the library program. Research also indicates that those with specific knowledge of school library programs, namely school district library supervisors, are only consulted on recruiting and hiring about half the time. School districts entrust library supervisors with responsibilities such as professional development of school librarians only after they are hired. </p><p> This study uses a theoretical lens from research on IT governance, which focuses on the use of knowledge-fit in applying decision rights in an organization. This framework is appropriate because of its incorporation of a specialist with a specific knowledge set in determining the placement of input and decision rights in the decision-making processes. The method used in this research was a multiple-case study design using five school districts as cases, varying by the involvement of the supervisors and other individuals in the hiring process. The data collected from each school district were interviews about the district&rsquo;s recruiting and hiring practices with principals, an individual in HR, library supervisors, and recently hired school librarians. Data analysis was conducted through iterative coding from themes in the research questions, with continuous adjustments as new themes developed. </p><p> Results from the study indicate that governance framework is applicable to evaluating the decision-making processes used in recruiting and hiring school librarians. However, a district&rsquo;s use of governance did not consistently use knowledge-fit in the determination of input and decision rights. In the hiring process, governance was more likely to be based on placing decision rights at a certain level of the district hierarchy rather than the location of specific knowledge, most often resulting in site-based governance for decision rights at the school-building level. The governance of the recruiting process was most affected by the shortage or surplus of candidates available to the district to fill positions. Districts struggling with a shortage of candidates typically placed governance for the decision-making process on recruiting at the district level, giving the library supervisor more opportunity for input and collaboration with human resources. In districts that use site-based governance and that place all input and decision rights at the building level, some principals use their autonomy to eliminate the school library position in the allotment phase or hire librarians that, while certified through testing, do not have the same level of expertise as those who achieve certification through LIS programs. The principals in districts who use site-based governance for decision rights but call on the library supervisor for advisement stated how valuable they found the supervisor&rsquo;s expertise in evaluating candidates for hire. In no district was a principal or school required to involve the library supervisor in the hiring of school librarians. With a better understanding of the tasks involved, the effect of district governance on decision-making, and the use of knowledge to assign input and decision rights, it is possible to look at how all of these factors affect the outcome in the quality of the hire. A next step is to look at the hiring process that school librarians went through and connect those with the measurable outcomes of hiring: school librarian success, retention, and attrition; the quality of school library program services, outreach, and involvement in a school; and the perceptions of the success of the school librarian and the library program as seen from students, teachers, administrators, parents, and other community stakeholders. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, Faculty of Education and Languages, 1999. / Bibliogphy: leaves 270-284.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Science and Mathematics Education, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. / Open access. Includes bibliographical references (p. 250-260). Print copy also available.