Dissertation Information for Betsy Bowers Aldridge NAME: - Betsy Bowers Aldridge
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- Texas Woman's University (USA) (1992)
ADVISORS: - Frank L. Turner
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Bernard Schlessinger - Adeline Wood Wilkes - Brooke E. Sheldon - Marie Marchall Fuller
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: The creativity of selected library directors at private liberal arts colleges in the United States
Abstract: A need was discovered for the
investigation of creativity of library
directors, particularly those within
the context of the selective private
liberal arts college setting. The
study focused on the library manager
as a creative individual rather than
on the organizational structure. The
relationship between creativity and
various personal and professional
characteristics (demographics,
interests, journal readings,
association memberships, career
history) was considered and
comparisons made between the
creativity of library directors and
other types of managers.
The library directors of all private
colleges within the Carnegie
classification Liberal Arts I category
were sent packets containing the Cree
Questionnaire (a 142-item instrument
validated for measuring creative
potential in upper managers) and the
Personal/Professional Characteristics
(PPC) survey (an instrument
independently developed by the author
of this study based in findings in the
Cree Questionnaire responses were
manually scored and entered into the
SYSTAT statistical software package
for analysis PPC surveys are analyzed
and 58 categories of data were
calculated and entered into SYSTAT.
Independent t-tests, analysis of
variance, Pearson product corelational
analysis and stepwise regression
analysis were the statistical
procedures used to present descriptive
statistics on overall creativity, 10
creativity dimensions, personal and
professional characteristics, to
consider relationships between overall
creativity and personal/professional
characteristics, and to compare
creativity scores with norms and
findings for male and female managers
in non-library settings. The cases
with overall creativity scores in the
top quartile were reviewed for a
profile of "high creatives," in terms
of age, gender, geographic location,
degree and majors, association
memberships, hobbies, and past
positions.
The highest scores of the total group
of library directors of private
selective liberal arts colleges in the
creativity dimensions were in artistic
interest and autonomy, with male
directors scoring significantly
stronger on ideational spontaneity
than other managers and females
significantly higher on autonomy than
the executive norm. Male library
directors were significantly lower on
the independence dimension than other
managers and females were
significantly lower on the pressure
dimension. Other significant positive
relationship were found, notably
between creativity and number of
academic library positions held,
number of library association
memberships, number of library
professional journals read, number of
years in middle management positions.
Noteworthy negative relationships were
found between creativity and number of
non-library positions held and
creativity and number of special
library positions held.
Ethnic group membership and childhood
language was not diversified enough to
study here. No significant difference
was found for the age variable. More
study is needed on the creativity of
library directors; investigating the
causes of strength and weaknesses and
ways to improve the weakness and share
knowledge about the strengths. The
relationship of creativity to
publication rate, non-academic library
positions (especially special library
positions), technical versus public
service experience, ethnic group,
childhood language, and gender are
food for further thought and study.
Further consideration needs to be
given to whether the Cree
Questionnaire and other creativity
instruments are valid in the library
domain and possible other measures
created specifically for the library
domain. Correlating creativity scores
to actual creative behavior,
performance, management styles,
organizational structure, and climate
of the library and parent institutions
could be fruitful. The relationship of
creativity to other personality
factors and social phenomenon could
shed further light on this pioneering
branch of study within the library
field.
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MPACT Scores for Betsy Bowers Aldridge A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:12:41
Advisors and Advisees Graph
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