Dissertation Information for Alice H. Scott NAME: - Alice H. Scott
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- University of Chicago (USA) (1983)
ADVISORS: - Warden Boyd Rayward
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Abraham Bookstein - Howard W. Winger - Frederick L. Strodtbeck
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: INFORMATION SEEKING BY THE URBAN POOR AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO ADULT NONUSE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Abstract: The dissertation addresses the problem of the lack of effectiveness of the public library in meeting the inf ormation needs of the urban poor. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 100 residents from the lowest economic strata of the black community of Englewood in Chicago. Three distinct groups were identified: 1 ibrary users ( 19% ) ; former users (41%) ; and nonusers (40%). Although the three groups were equally poor, the majority (68% ) of library users and former users were younger (age 18-35); the majority of nonusers (68%) were older (36-65+). Most (82%) respondents were at the high school educational level or above; 79% were female and 21% were male. The usual information sources of 82% of the nonusers were interpersonal contacts (relatives, frie nd s, spouses) compared to 73% of the former users and 53% of the library users. Eleven socioeconomic and information seeki ng cha rac teri s tics were reI a ted to 1 i brary use, and further analysis produced five variables which were deemed the opt imal pred ic tors of 1 i brary use. These and their rotated factor loadings were: knowledge of the functions of the library (.81), use of various types of libraries (.55), the abili ty to recall a recently read book . (.52), acquaintance with library users (.48) and attended college or graduated (.43). Age, sex, mari tal stat us, newspaper reading, magazine reading and the number of types of print media read, though related to library use were lesser predictors. An additive scale showed that possessing 4 to 5 of the predictors was more highly characteristic of library users (55%) and former users (41%) than nonusers ( 3%). The inf ormation needs expressed by the respondents were . incorporated in detail into an Information Needs Index. The highest percentage of needs were f or current information of the referral type. Foremost among the suggested strategies for effective public library service in this community were the provision of information to meet the expressed needs of the resĀ·idents with former users as the target group; and the promotion of awareness in the community of the availability of the information.
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MPACT Scores for Alice H. Scott A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
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TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:15:19
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