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Dissertation Information for James B. Casey

NAME:
- James B. Casey

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Case Western Reserve University (USA) (1985)

ADVISORS:
- William Goffman

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Sarah Scott Gibson
- David D. Van Tassel
- Miranda Pao

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Assessment of quality in book selection: An evaluation of the effectiveness of opinions rendered by peer reviews in american history journals

Abstract: This study evaluates the effectiveness of qualitative assessments found in American history journal book reviews through examination of the relationship between the review opinions of 100 American history books by historians and librarians during subsequent years. A reasonably strong correlation of .546 between the earliest dated review opinion and the consensus of all history journal review opinions reveals that the earliest assessment can offer a fair indication of subsequent review opinion. This study also compares a numerical representation of positive and negative review opinions with quantifiable measures of acceptance. Despite statistically significant results, the overall correlations of review opinions against evidence of "use-success" are relatively low in most cases. Therefore, the general conclusion is reached that review opinion of new American history books is not especially helpful as a means by which to estimate the frequency of use aspect of acceptance.

Although journal review opinions are not seen to be especially helpful in estimating the degree of future use, this study also reveals that the consensus of American history journal review opinion concerning a particular book is less effective as an indicator of future use than the opinion presented by the first journal review to appear. Qualitative assessments of American history books offered in review journals such as Choice prove to be more helpful than the first history journal review opinion in reflecting subsequent frequency of use.

This study reveals an 82/18 ration of favorable over unfavorable opinion among history journal reviews. The overwhelming predominance of positive over negative review assessment uncovered in this paper is in agreement with the findings of previous research into the review literature of other disciplines. This suggests that this predominance of positive over negative opinion could be one major factor reducing the relative importance of the qualitative assessment component of reviews in the selection process.

MPACT Scores for James B. Casey

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:01:24

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Students under James B. Casey

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None