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Dissertation Information for David Michael Boals

NAME:
- David Michael Boals

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Southern California (USA) (1985)

ADVISORS:
- Roger Greer

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Dennis Thomison
- Bruce Bennion
- Catherine Burke

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: LEVELS OF WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Abstract: This study investigated the issue of what levels of work and responsibility exist in public libraries. Time-span of discretion (TSD) and felt fair pay (FFP), as operationally defined by Elliott Jaques, were used to identify and measure different levels of work and responsibility in public library jobs. Interview data, derived from N-80 (TSD) and N=55 (FFP), were collected from all role levels from 13 public libraries in Southern California serving various population sizes.

The study findings identified 94% of the job holders in public libraries operating between 0-1 year on their longest assigned tasks (TSD). Likewise, 87% of professional librarians operated within the first baseline strata of professional responsibility (3 months to 1 year in their longest assignments). As a result of its findings, this study concludes that library management theories relative to models of planning, organization, evaluation, and career progression, as well as educational requirements for library work need to be reconsidered in order to reflect the actual levels of work and responsibility which are held by people working in public libraries.

An additional finding of the study was an r of .90+ between TSD and FFP. This confirms previous library and non-library studies which claim that there is a close relationship between these two measures. This also lends support to claims that these two measures can provide an objective basis for measuring levels of responsibility and corresponding equitable payment levels in public libraries and other bureaucratic organizations.

MPACT Scores for David Michael Boals

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-07-25 19:16:48

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