Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 1997. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-159).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Objective – This paper is based on a national survey conducted in late 2013 by the authors, then co-moderators of the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) Network of the Canadian Library Association (CLA). It is a first survey of its kind, aiming to capture a snapshot of the demographics of the visible minority librarians working in Canadian institutions. The authors hoped that the data collected from the survey and the analysis presented in this paper would help identify the needs, challenges and barriers of this group of librarians and set future directions for ViMLoC. The authors also hoped that the findings would be useful to library administrators, librarians, and researchers working on multicultural issues, diversity, recruitment and retention, leadership, library management, and other related areas. Methods – An online survey questionnaire was created and the survey invitation was sent to visible minority librarians through relevant library association electronic mail lists and posted on ViMLoC’s electronic mail list and website. The survey consisted of 12 questions: multiple-choice, yes/no questions, and open-ended. The survey asked if the participants were visible minority librarians. If they responded “No,” the survey closed for them. Respondents who did not identify themselves as minority librarians were excluded from completing the survey. Results – Of the 192 individuals that attempted, 120 who identified themselves as visible minority librarians completed the survey. Of these, 36% identified themselves as Chinese, followed by South Asian (20%) and Black (12%). There were 63% who identified themselves as first generation visible minorities and 28% who identified themselves as second generation. A total of 84% completed their library degree in Canada. Equal numbers (38% each) identified themselves as working in public and academic libraries, followed by 15% in special libraries. Although they are spread out all over Canada and beyond, a vast majority of them are in British Columbia (40%) and Ontario (26%). There were 38% who identified themselves as reference/information services librarians, followed by “other” (18%) and “liaison librarian” (17%). A total of 82% responded that they worked full time. The open-ended question at the end of the survey was answered by 42.5% of the respondents, with responses falling within the following broad themes: jobs, mentorship, professional development courses, workplace issues, general barriers, and success stories. Conclusions – There are at least 120 first, second, and other generation minority librarians working in (or for) Canadian institutions across the country and beyond. They work in different kinds of libraries, are spread out all over Canada, and have had their library education in various countries or in Canada. They need a forum to discuss their issues and to have networking opportunities, and a mentorship program to seek advice from other librarians with similar backgrounds who have been in similar situations to themselves when finding jobs or re-pursuing their professional library degrees. Getting support from and working collaboratively with CLA, ViMLoC can be proactive in helping this group of visible minority librarians.

No description available.

Digital file includes the first chapter from The Librarian Stereotype: Deconstructing Presentations and Perceptions of Information Work, edited by Nicole Pagowsky and Miriam Rigby; digital file also includes foreword by James V. Carmichael, Jr., Embracing the Melancholy: How the Author Renounced Moloch and the Conga Line for Sweet Conversations on Paper, to the Air of "Second Hand Rose

A lot of studies have been conducted to study school librarians (SLs)’ educational role. Those studies have identified SLs’ contribution in improving students’ academic achievement, cultivating students’ information literacy and fostering students’ reading habits. However, those studies mainly focused on the European and American regions, studies on the non-English speaking countries, especially in the Chinese milieu, were limited. This study examined the educational role of SLs in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China, and investigated their staffing level and work distribution respectively. Questionnaires were sent to public primary school librarians in these three regions on a convenience-sampling basis, 25 responses were received from Hong Kong, 15 from Taiwan and 20 from Mainland China. Employing a mixed-method design, both quantitative data and qualitative data were collected and analyzed to get an understanding of SLs’ perception on their educational role and to examine the related factors. Findings showed that SLs from all the three regions agreed that they have contributed towards students’ academic performance. SLs in Hong Kong and Taiwan were found to be more proactive than their counterparts in Mainland China in supporting students’ inquiry based learning in in these four aspects: Holding library lessons to teach IL, collaborating with teachers, holding reading programs and library/reading committees to promote reading and having professional development opportunities by broadening their professional network and participating in related conference. It is also found that there was still some deficiency of the educational role of SLs in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Instead of integrating the content of information literacy (IL) into subject courses, library lessons was still a prominent means to teach IL in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In both regions, SLs’ educational role was undervalued. Hong Kong and Taiwan SLs perceived that the level of subject teaching has restricted their professional role. Disparities between Hong Kong and Taiwan were also noted. Taiwan SLs, who were originally subject teachers, held a more positive view on subject teaching and interacting with other teachers while Hong Kong SLs were better qualified. Those findings may shed some light on how SLs’ educational role could be maximized in these three regions. It may provide some evidence for the government and principals to understand SLs’ active impact on students’ achievement and the different educational systems’ impact on SLs’ role, it will also bring out some practical recommendations for teachers and school administrators to support SLs’ professional job. / published_or_final_version / Library and Information Management / Master / Master of Science in Library and Information Management

The traditional academic reference environment has been transformed by electronic technology. The purpose of this study is to investigate the consequences of this transformation concerning the changing role of the reference librarian as well as the new competencies that are needed to be efficient in this electronic information environment. Research method: A literature study was conducted in order to establish the nature of the traditional academic reference environment; to determine the changes that took place in the electronic reference environment and the effect of these changes on the role expectations and competencies of the academic reference librarian. Core findings: The role of the academic reference librarian in an electronic environment has changed from sole information provider in the traditional environment to facilitator and guide to relevant resources in the electronic environment. Three main roles have been identified: it can be expected of an academic reference librarian to be a trainer, an information manager and to be equipped to handle information enquiries via electronic mail. Reference librarians need additional training and continuing education in order to develop new skills and acquire new knowledge to enable them to handle these identified tasks. Although responsibilities for providing training and education opportunities reside with library managers, in the end, each reference librarian must assume responsibility for acquiring the required competencies. Librarians must not see the developments in information technology and especially Internet as a threat, but as an opportunity and vehicle to deliver and support better information services to users. / Thesis (M.Bibl.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2002.

The traditional academic reference environment has been transformed by electronic technology. The purpose of this study is to investigate the consequences of this transformation concerning the changing role of the reference librarian as well as the new competencies that are needed to be efficient in this electronic information environment. Research method: A literature study was conducted in order to establish the nature of the traditional academic reference environment; to determine the changes that took place in the electronic reference environment and the effect of these changes on the role expectations and competencies of the academic reference librarian. Core findings: The role of the academic reference librarian in an electronic environment has changed from sole information provider in the traditional environment to facilitator and guide to relevant resources in the electronic environment. Three main roles have been identified: it can be expected of an academic reference librarian to be a trainer, an information manager and to be equipped to handle information enquiries via electronic mail. Reference librarians need additional training and continuing education in order to develop new skills and acquire new knowledge to enable them to handle these identified tasks. Although responsibilities for providing training and education opportunities reside with library managers, in the end, each reference librarian must assume responsibility for acquiring the required competencies. Librarians must not see the developments in information technology and especially Internet as a threat, but as an opportunity and vehicle to deliver and support better information services to users. / Thesis (M.Bibl.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2002.

M.Bibl. / Information is an important and powerful resource in the modern society. The so-called information explosion leads to certain manpower issues in the library and information profession. The question arises whether married women with family obligations can contribute to the alleviation of library and information workforce problems? Can other librarians, e.g. post graduate students or librarians reaching retirement age, contribute to the library and information profession on a basis other than that which is traditionally accepted (i.e. working approximately forty hours per week in a library?) To what extent does the university library use this potential workforce? What are the career opportunities for this latent workforce? The following non-traditional career patterns were included in this study: part-time work, flex(i)time, dual appointments, free-lance information brokers. job sharing, librarianship, staff rotation, consultants and Following a literature survey a questionnaire was sent to 22 South African University Librarians. Another questionnaire was sent to 122 non-traditional library and information professionals at nine university libraries. Although the study was limited to only a few university libraries, it was found that the current non-traditional university library workforce consists mainly of part-time employees. The majority are female, married, Afrikaans-speaking, have children at school and have stopped working full-time because of family obligations. The largest percentage (25%) of the respondents are between the ages of 36 and 40 years. Their responsibilities are primarily professional. 50% of the respondents are employed in the Cataloguing Department. Respondents also maintained that they were more productive in their current positions, than when they had been employed full-time. This corresponds with statements made by the employers in the first questionnaire, as well as with those made by several authors in the literature survey.

The purpose of this research was to identify predictors of job satisfaction among academic librarians. Structural models were developed and examined with path analytic procedures to determine the effects of the following variables on librarians' job satisfaction: 1) selected characteristics of individual librarians (education, experience, sex, age, salary, and position), 2) selected characteristics of library organizations (annual budget, sex of director, size of staff, average annual salary of staff, organizational status of librarians, and size of collection), and 3) librarians' perceptions of their job (perceptions of the work, adequacy of pay, promotion opportunities, supervision, associates, and job security).