Dissertation Information for Judy Gertrude Ludlam Westerman NAME: - Judy Gertrude Ludlam Westerman
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- University of Pittsburgh (USA) (1990)
ADVISORS: - E. Blanche Woolls
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Harry Elvin Broadbent III - Mary Kay Biagini - Margaret M. Kimmel - D. Epler
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: An evaluation of database quality: A case study of subject access to young adult fiction in the ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA CD-ROM Database
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate database quality through user accessibility to the multiple bibliographic records of young adult fiction titles in the ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA CD-ROM Database. The major hypotheses of the study were: the multiple bibliographic records for young adult fiction titles with the most topical subject headings have the most holdings; the bibliographic record for each young adult fiction title with the most holdings is annotated; the bibliographic record for each young adult fiction title with the most topical subject headings will have an annotation; and that the retrospective conversion of young adult fiction titles enhanced subject access to these records held by one school district.
The investigation was accomplished by using 30 young adult fiction titles copyrighted between 1975 and 1985 as the purposeful sample. The database contained 162 records for the sample titles which were analyzed in terms of topical subject headings, annotations, and the number of libraries owning each edition. The data was entered onto a computer file using the statistical package SPSS Information Analysis System.
Major findings in the study were: (1) The multiple bibliographic records for young adult fiction titles with the most topical subject headings are held by the most libraries on only 8 percent of the records; (2) The bibliographic record for each young in only 8 percent of the records; (2) The bibliographic record for each young adult fiction title with the most holdings is annotated in only 8.6 percent of the records; (3) The bibliographic record for each young adult fiction title with the most topical subject headings will have an annotation in only 30.8 percent of the records; (4) and The retrospective conversion of young adult fiction titles did enhance subject access to these records held by one school district for 6 percent but also showed a significant decrease in record quality for 42 percent of the records. The findings were related to the need for improved record standardization and database maintenance.
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