Library Media Specialists’ Self-perception of Their Roles and Responsibilities in Georgia’s Public High Schools
Loading...
Authors
Rehberg, James Thomas
Issue Date
2011-05
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Library Media Specialists , Information Specialists , Rehberg , Georgia Libraries
Alternative Title
Abstract
This sequential exploratory study was conducted to examine the practical and theoretical levels of professional guideline implementation by library media specialists suggested in the 1988 and 1998 editions of Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs and Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. This study focused on high school library media specialists in the state of Georgia. An online survey was conducted where participants responded to a Likert survey on both practical and theoretical levels of implementation, supplied demographic data, and answered two open-ended questions. The responses were analyzed and the mean and standard deviation were calculated and used to generate paired t tests, p-values, and Cohen’s d values in order to determine significance and effect size.
Results indicated high school library media specialists in the state of Georgia aspire to perform the recommended guidelines to a much higher level than they are able to practically implement them. The results were all determined to be significant, and the Cohen’s effect size values suggested a large practical significance. The role of information specialist was revealed as the most fully implemented role while the roles of instructional consultant and instructional partner were the roles least implemented in actual practice. This signified library media specialists continue to perform their traditional role of finding information while struggling to implement the collaborative roles of instructional partner and consultant by teaming with teachers in the classroom.
Respondents listed facilitative factors such as administrative support, teacher cooperation, and additional staffing were beneficial to expanding their professional role while budget cuts, insufficient time, and an absence of administrative support were impediments which prevented them from expanding their professional roles.
Description
Citation
Publisher
Valdosta State University
License
Copyright protected. Unauthorized reproduction or use beyond the exceptions granted by the Fair Use clause of U.S. Copyright law may violate federal law.