Dissertation Information for Jane Ross Moore NAME: - Jane Ross Moore
- (Alias) Jane Elizabeth Ross Moore
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- Case Western Reserve University (USA) (1974)
ADVISORS: - Phyllis A. Richmond
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - William Goffman - Jesse H. Shera - Nathan D. Grundstein
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: Information and the urban dweller: a study of an information delivery system.
Abstract: In undertaking this study, two assumptions were made: (1) "information"
was defined as the name for the sum total of sense data, learning and
data from other external processes which an individual uses to adjust
to the outer world and to impress his adjustment upon it, and (2) the
particular degree of complexity of modern life in the urban environment
results in a society too large for the direct contact of its members.
The problem of this study was to investigate the information delivery
system available to the urban dweller. By what means and with what
ease, or lack of it, could those who dwell in cities obtain adequate
information to live at individual levels of maximal effectiveness?
A review of the literature indicated that adults in need of answers
turn to educational institutions, mass media, and other individuals
(interpersonal sources). This was accepted as the basic model of the
information delivery system available to the urban dweller. In order to
reduce this study to manageable proportions, however, it was limited to
consideration of the mass media and institutionalized interpersonal
sources. Several examples of each were examined as components of the
system.
The mass media were characterized as those techniques in which there
was a loss of direct personal communication between the communicator of
his public, implying no direct feedback from the receiver.
Interpersonal sources, including those of an institutionalized nature,
were characterized by direct personal communication between the
communicator and the receiver.
Examples of mass media included newspaper action line columns, New York
Magazine, urban telephone books, "people's yellow pages," and
underground newspapers.
examples of institutionalized interpersonal sources of information were
taken from the fields of library and information science and of social
service although the influence of other fields, such as public
management science, is becoming increasingly evident. Four public
information centers were described in detail: the British Citizen's
Advice Bureaux, the Columbus Regional Information Service, the Public
Information Center of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and the Model
Cities Community Information Center in Philadelphia. Three private
information sources were also included.
Conclusions relating to the total information delivery system available
to the urban dweller were that (1) the system exists; (2) it is recent;
(3) it is currently in a state of rapid development, evolution, and
change; and (4) a model of comprehensive urban information service in
the United States has yet to be developed, especially in relation to
the institutionalized interpersonal sources and to the disciplinary
fields concerned.
Conclusions drawn about particular components, especially in relation
to each other, indicated (1) the commonality of subject areas about
which information was sought; (2) the importance of the volunteer; (3)
the similarity of establishment and alternative cultures; and (4) the
predominance of the telephone.
There was clear evidence of increasing attention to the information
needs of the urban dweller. Further investigation is warranted since
the final result sought is improvement in what may be termed "quality
of life," not simply improvement in the quantity and quality of
information available to the urban dweller.
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MPACT Scores for Jane Ross Moore A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-04-07 13:53:38
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