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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.

MPACT Scores for Alice H. Scott

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:15:19

Advisors and Advisees Graph

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Students under Alice H. Scott

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None