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Dissertation Information for Richard Chandler Holmes

NAME:
- Richard Chandler Holmes

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (USA) (1983)

ADVISORS:
- George Patrick Michael D'Elia

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- D. K. Berninghausen
- Wesley Simonton
- Robin Dee Crickman
- Darrell Richard Lewis
- Ted Kellogg

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: The academic library director's perceived power and its correlates

Abstract: Library directors, their immediate superiors, and subordinate librarians were surveyed to gather measures of perceptions of library directors' overall power in library decision making at 282 randomly-selected institutions representing liberal arts colleges and comprehensive universities with minimal graduate programs. In addition, measures were made of perceptions of directors' power in eight decision-making areas, of directors' leadership style, of directors' and subordinates' role clarity, of influence of outside groups on library decision making, of power bases held by directors with their superiors and subordinates. For each institution, twenty variables were gathered, relating to size, formal authority relationships within library and parent institution, institutional climate and director's demographic characteristics.

Tests were made of the conceptual independence of decision areas in which directors' power was measured, of variations in perception of directors' power among the three groups surveyed, and of contribution of perceived power in decision areas to each group's perception of directors' overall power. Tests of correlation were made between perceptions of directors' overall power and institutional and demographic variables, and between directors' overall power and aspects of directors' leadership style, directors' and subordinates' role clarity, outside influence, and power bases. Where theoretically feasible, tests were made of the contribution of significant variables to each group's perception of directors' overall power.

In general, findings suggest the following: Among the three groups surveyed, perceptions of directors' power over strategic decision areas, especially objective- and policy-setting, contribute most highly to perceptions of directors' overall power. Institutional and demographic variables show no theoretically significant relationship to perceptions of directors' power. Some aspects of directors' leadership style, and the index of directors' role clarity, are significantly related to directors' perceived power, while levels of outside influence are not related. Of power bases measured, "expertise" contributes significantly to superiors' and subordinates' perceptions of directors' power. Secondary analyses found no theoretically significant relationship between institutional and demographic variables and intervening variables contributing to perceptions of directors' power.


MPACT Scores for Richard Chandler Holmes

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-06-15 15:55:41

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