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Dissertation Information for Elizabeth Ryan Hubbard

NAME:
- Elizabeth Ryan Hubbard

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Pittsburgh (USA) (1996)

ADVISORS:
- Ellen Detlefsen

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Wendell Wray
- Robert Wichers
- Margaret M. Kimmel

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: A conflict of values: An inquiry into the impact of local political decision-making on the funding of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in three selected decades

Abstract: For the past several decades public libraries across the nation have been experiencing serious financial difficulties as a result of diminished municipal funding. Recently, this has led to closures estimated at approximately one public library a week and to a crisis of major proportions. Examination of this problem and the attempt to discover funding strategies to increase library allocations traditionally has been conducted from the library manager's perspective. Examination of the literature suggests that a different approach to funding decisions related to public libraries might bring a different perspective to the problem.

Utilizing historical and case study research methodology, a political decision-making model was applied to three selected decades of local political funding decisions for an urban public library system, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. A Decision-Oriented Paradigm developed from multi-attribute utility theory provided the tool for the data organization and provided a framework for the display of the process, linking internal and external variables within the context of the social, political, and economic environment of Pittsburgh, variables which impacted political decision-making. This research on the political approach to decision-making focused on the solutions which politicians developed to cope with the political problems arising from the environment in which they operated. The political model also took into consideration the competition for municipal funds from a variety of sources, including political colleagues and organizations who have varying degrees of power, and issues with historical precedent.

Political decisions resulted from a compromise of several competing factors and became value statements, defining which values were supported and which were not. This study further defined within a broader context, the value of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to Pittsburgh's funding decision-makers during the decades under study. It revealed that the Library was not a strong competitor for City dollars, and that through the Library's first century of existence, it clearly became an object of benign neglect.

MPACT Scores for Elizabeth Ryan Hubbard

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:24:03

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Students under Elizabeth Ryan Hubbard

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None