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Dissertation Information for Jo Anne Hall

NAME:
- Jo Anne Hall

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA) (1984)

ADVISORS:
- Gwendolyn S. Cruzat

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Ronald R. Powell
- David Hessler
- William Levi Cash Jr.

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INNOVATIVE OR CHANGE AGENT CHARACTERISTICS OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS AND THE EXISTENCE OF CHANGE IN SELECTED ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Abstract: The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine the relationships between educational achievement, professional involvement and change agent characteristics of selected academic librarians and to determine the relationship between change agent characteristics and the perception of library change by the librarians. The framework of this study was based on the innovation-decision theory of Rogers and Shoemaker. The study sought to determine the factors that are related to four measures of academic librarians' change agent characteristics, i.e., educational attainment and continuing education activities (educational achievement), participation in on-campus activities, professional organizations, publishing activities and research activities (professional status). The study also sought to identify ten measures of library change that academic librarians felt existed in their library environment. The research hypotheses were that academic librarians' educational achievement and professional activities would be related significantly to librarians' change agent characteristics and that change agent characteristics would be related significantly to librarians' perceptions of the degree of library change in academic libraries.

Data were gathered by a mail questionnaire sent to a random sample of 310 academic librarians. The librarians worked in libraries that were members of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries group. Two hundred and thirty-three questionnaires were returned. Based on the eligibility criteria, 222 returned questionnaires were regarded valid, representing a 71.6 percent response rate. Data from 222 librarians were analyzed utilizing univariate, bivariate and multivariate techniques.

The data revealed that educational achievement was not significantly related to change agent characteristics. Professional status was related significantly to two out of the four measures for change agent characteristics. The results also revealed that change agent characteristics were related significantly to four out of ten measures of perceived library change. Measures that were the best predictors of the change agent characteristics, change advocacy and leadership skills, were on-campus activities and research activities, respectively. The change agent characteristic open-mindedness, was the measure best able to predict the four areas of perceived library change.

MPACT Scores for Jo Anne Hall

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:29:35

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