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Dissertation Information for Robert Ford

NAME:
- Robert Ford

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Rutgers University (USA) (1988)

ADVISORS:
- Ralph Blasingame

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Bernard Goldstein
- Hendrik Edelman
- Betty J. Turock

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Involvement in joint cooperative programs: A study of perceptions of networking and organizational interdependence among a selected group of ARL (Association of Research Libraries) university libraries

Abstract: This study sought to determine the degrees of involvement in joint cooperative programs among a group of nine ARL (Association of Research Libraries) university libraries in the northeastern United States as perceived by members of their professional staffs. The variables and sociological framework conceptualized by the prominent sociologists, Jerald Hage and Michael Aiken, in their study of organizational interdependence and intra-organizational structure were applied to the university library environment. Another purpose of this investigation was to assess the impact that involvement in joint cooperative programs was likely to have on the internal functioning of the library organization.

The central research question concerned whether there was a correlation between the three structural (complexity, centralization and formalization) and two performance (internal communication and program innovation) variables and the number of joint cooperative programs in the university library setting. The interrelationship between perceptions of the degree of program innovation and the joint cooperative program was statistically confirmed. The results suggest that the performance variable of program innovation and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the structural variable of organizational complexity are positively related to joint cooperative program involvement for the libraries studied.

The evidence revealed the strongest correlation between organizational complexity and the effect of the joint cooperative program as well as a substantial correlation between complexity and the degree of program innovation. There were also significant correlations between program innovation and involvement in the joint cooperative program as well as the interrelationship between complexity and the involvement in the joint cooperative program.

Regarding the impact of the joint cooperative program on the five facets of the library's internal operations, most respondents felt that the impact of involvement had been more positive than negative.

Comparison of average perceptions of subjects at the three staff levels (using analyses of variance and Scheffe contrasts) indicated a number of significant differences. In general, perceptions of library directors were more positive than were those of their subordinates. Comparison of staff perceptions in libraries of various sizes also produced significant differences.

MPACT Scores for Robert Ford

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:09:48

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