Dissertation Information for Desretta Veronica McAllister NAME: - Desretta Veronica McAllister
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- University of Pittsburgh (USA) (1981)
ADVISORS: - Martha L. Manheimer
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Thomas J. Galvin - Wendell Wray - Ellen Detlefsen - Lawrence Howard
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: EDUCATION FOR TECHNICAL SERVICES: FIVE CASE STUDIES
Abstract: Purpose of the Study. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether there were similarities in what was taught in technical services courses in selected library schools, and what was expected by selected employers of beginning professionals. The issues were: (1) What exit competencies do the students have at the end of the technical services courses? (2) What skills do employees expect graduates to have as beginning catalogers? and (3) What similarities exist between what is taught and what employers expect of the beginning cataloger?
Procedures of the Study. The population for this study was drawn from two geographic regions. In order to maintain confidentiality, the locations are not revealed. The subjects interviewed were in two groups--full-time library school faculty teaching technical services courses and technical services administrators in academic libraries. Both groups were interviewed and asked to rank a list of specific tasks. Public and private documents were also examined and five descriptive cases were prepared and returned to those interviewed for verification. The five cases provide in-depth reports and analyses of employer's and educator's expectations of beginning professionals.
The first institution in this study was used as the pilot in which the methodology for this study was tested and refined.
Results. The data support these findings: (1) core curriculum and advanced courses offered by the five programs in technical services provide information for the study of concepts and procedures necessary to all types of libraries and library services; and (2) competencies can be gained through appropriate work experience and can be demonstrated on examinations taken either in class or at home.
Sixteen courses, or 94 percent of all courses identified, included one or more skills; one course did not include any skills; twenty skills, or 74 percent of the skills from a list of twenty-seven, were taught in at least one of sixteen courses; seven skills or 25 percent, were not taught in any of the courses. Of the twenty-nine skills, practitioners found only seventeen skills important enough to rank, and educators ranked only twelve of those seventeen skills. The remaining twelve skills were nonusable, because practitioners did not think these items were important enough to rank them. Both groups ranked the ability to perform original cataloging of materials for which Library of Congress cards (or MARC tapes or other sources) are not available as their highest priority and perform classification of materials as their second highest priority.
Conclusions. It appears that practitioners and educators agree that most beginning professional librarians should be competent in the performance of original cataloging of materials for which Library of Congress cards (or MARC tapes or other sources) are not available and in the classification of materials.
There appears to be some similarity between what is taught by the educators and what is expected by the practitioners of the beginning professional. Although the data revealed that there were more similarities than differences, twol differences emerged that are important enough to describe. Educators and practitioners did not rank two of the skills with the same degree of importance. The skill involving the adaptation (or suggestion of adaptation) of a subject heading list to accommodate scientific change (or changes in reader interest or use of new terminology as to make more understandable) received a high ranking by educators and a low ranking by practitioners. On the other hand, the skill involving revision of cataloging received a high ranking by practitioners but not by educators.
A final conclusion vital to the research, is that the interviews were effective as a data collection technique. It also appears that characteristics such as sex and age may have had some impact on the willingness of a person to be interviewed.
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MPACT Scores for Desretta Veronica McAllister A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:22:21
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