Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

User Satisfaction With The Interlibrary Loan System At Camden County Library: A Case Study, Jennifer L. Pierce

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine patron satisfaction with the interlibrary loan system at Camden County Library in New Jersey. The researcher experienced the interlibrary loan process fist-hand at the main library in Voorhees. Protecting patron confidentiality and anonymity, a four-page questionnaire survey was included with 150 interlibrary loan items that were picked up by patrons between March 9, 2000 and June 6, 2000. Of the 79 surveys returned, 76 were usable for this study. The overall conclusion is that respondents were satisfied: 96.05% were satisfied with staff helpfulness, 82.89% were satisfied with the time it took to …

An Analysis Of Rowan University Fund Raising And Communication Practices, Karen D. Dunnington

Theses and Dissertations

Public colleges and universities need more income than government can provide. States now typically provide less than half the funding for public universities, like Rowan University. Alumni fund raising and other gifts bridge this gap. This study describes variables that affect donor motivation in other schools, and measures those variables among Rowan University subjects. The author applied a 16-question protocol to a purposive sample of 31. The sample was comprised of key fund raising personnel and target study subjects from students to college presidents in seven groups. Extensive individual commentary supplements the sample's small size. The major findings clearly support …

Study Of Small Businesses’ Need For, And Interest In, A Course On How To Produce Effective Publications, Lori Wagoner

Theses and Dissertations

With the advent of PageMaker and other user-friendly publications programs almost anyone can create publications, with or without an understanding of typography or layout and design. These publications represent the organization and affect its image, as well as its bottom line.

These software programs allow an organization to produce its own publications and handle its own publicity. This is a great advantage for small entrepreneurial businesses that may not be able to hire a professional to produce brochures, flyers or newsletters. The problem, however, is that unless the person has an understanding of typography and layout and design, the publication …

Recruiting And Retaining Healthcare Association Members, Ronette Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify popular techniques used to recruit and retain members for healthcare and medical associations. The author compared and contrasted three medical associations and their membership benefits to show which benefits members value most.

Related research indicated recruiting and retaining members has become increasingly competitive among healthcare and medical associations. A new-member survey was conducted for three healthcare associations. Research indicated people primarily join organizations for specialized information, but they also hope to fulfill status-seeking needs.

A successful recruiting and retaining plan involves more than attractive benefits. Members' motivational needs must be included. Based …

Amusement Park Crisis Management, Joe Costal

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempts to establish a benchmark for amusement park crisis management through the careful examination of two contrasting crisis response case studies.

The first study, a deadly fire at Six Flags Great Adventure, in Jackson Township, New Jersey, exemplifies the causes, components and effects of improper crisis planning. Analysis of the study closely examines all events leading to and resulting from the fire, with most content coming from the memories of professionals directly involved in the tragedy. Designations of the Six Flags case provided the basis of every amusement crisis plan written since.

The second study, a deadly boat …

The Implications Of The Financial Services Modernization Act On Life Insurance Industry Communications, Michael A. Weinberg

Theses and Dissertations

This study's purpose was to assess the effects of legislation known as The Financial Services Modernization Act on life insurance industry communicators. The November, 1999 legislation effectively broke down the barriers separating the major financial services industries in the U.S. - life insurance, banking, and securities.

An email survey of a random sample of the Life Communicators Association (LCA) U.S. membership was conducted. The LCA is a professional organization of marketing communications, advertising, and public relations professionals working for life insurance and other financial services firms. 242 surveys were emailed.

The results indicated that most of the LCA members were …

Rutgers Camden Center For The Arts Audience Study, Meridith Auerbach

Theses and Dissertations

The Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts strives to serve the regional community with diverse types of programming and to promote a love for the performing arts. The center wants to program events people are interested in attending. Audience likes and dislikes need to be studied and considered when choosing events for a season. The audience's opinion is important because they bring in revenue and therefore play a key role in the success of a theater.

There are factors that may persuade people to attend programs at the Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts. Likewise, audiences may have negative perceptions …

Development Of A Course Of Study For An Undergraduate Course In Global Communication, Kim Lynn Mullikin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies the components of successful undergraduate global communication courses. The thesis examines curriculum of American and European colleges and universities' global communication courses and programs. The author analyzed syllabi and course textbooks and surveyed Rowan University College of Communication staff members to develop a course of study for an undergraduate course in global communication.

The study determined that the top 10 topics to be included in a global communication course are: culture, globalization, politics, adaptation, race, television and film, business, conflict and culture shock.

Culture and globalization were covered in more than 50% of the syllabi studied. Adaptation, …

Branding For Nonprofit Organizations, Shannon Cogan

Theses and Dissertations

In the world, 546,000 nonprofit organizations all compete for the same thing: time and money. With the ease of Internet philanthropic giving, traditional nonprofit organizations must change with the times or be left in the wake. In an age of constant message bombardment, nonprofits must continually reinvent themselves to avoid getting lost in the crowd. Today, many nonprofits have found branding is the answer.

To determine the importance of nonprofit branding, the author reviewed all available literature and interviewed a senior-level manager at United Way of America. In addition, the author performed a literature review of all materials obtained from …

Public Relations Efforts To Promote New Graduate Programs, Joe Chambers

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to accumulate information relative to the various public relations practices, methods, and procedures utilized by Rowan University, a state institution of higher learning, and comparing and contrasting them with that of a private institution of higher learning. The differences and similarities between public and private institutions of higher learning were examined and a survey of Undergraduate Accounting students at Rowan was evaluated quantitatively.

Twenty-four questions were on the survey that covered the universe of undergraduate Accounting I and Accounting Il students at Rowan University during the fall semester 2000. Of these twenty-four questions, thirteen …

Characteristics Of Christian High School Libraries, Wayne Earl Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

For Christian high school libraries the study identified Christian aspects of their philosophy and goals, Internet use and selection policies, criteria for choosing librarians, and materials and services available. The sample was all the high school libraries with a librarian in a school with an enrollment of 300 or more students as of December, 1999. All the schools were members of the Association of Christian Schools International for the 1999-2000 school year. Four hundred thirty-three questionnaires were mailed to the high school librarians. One hundred sixty-eight usable questionnaires were returned. The study concluded that Christian high school librarians recognized Jesus …

Involvement Of The School Library Media Specialist In Critical Thinking Skills And Web Site Evaluation At The Middle School Level, Michele L. Burton

Theses and Dissertations

In the twenty-first century, the World Wide Web is being utilized more at home and in our school systems. The use of the WWW is transforming our learning institutions. Students must be information literate in order to critically evaluate the information they read on the WWW. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which School Library Media (SLM) specialists in Camden County, New Jersey were teaching middle school students the appropriate skills needed to become critical thinkers when using Web sites on the Internet, and what methods/search strategies these SLM specialists used in teaching. Questionnaires were …

Library Services To Senior Citizens: An Experimental Study, Robin M. Megow

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to observe and evaluate the effects of the implementation of several enhancements to library service designed to benefit senior citizens in particular. This segment of the population does not seem to be utilizing the full resources of the library. Patrons' attitudes before and after these enhancements were noted and compared.

A total of sixteen senior citizens participated in a series of five classes. Classes were conducted at three branches of the Gloucester County Library System. The classes provided instruction in library skills such as online catalog searching, use of the EBSCOhost periodical database, and …

A Survey Of Public Librarians' Attitudes Toward The Marketing Of Library Services, Jon C. Parker

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify attitudes of public librarians toward the marketing of library services, and relate these attitudes to selected independent variables. A questionnaire was developed and mailed to 1198 individual members of the New Jersey Library Association. Usable responses were received from 415 public librarians. The results were analyzed using various statistical techniques, including correlations and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Although most of the respondents had generally positive attitudes toward library marketing, there were some statistically significant differences between subgroups. For example, more positive attitudes toward marketing were expressed by library administrators, librarians who had …

The Potential For Support Of Gardner's Theory Of The Naturalist Intelligence In Selected Elementary School Library Media Centers, Traci L. Haines

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of teaching to the ability of the child is complex. Each child absorbs, analyzes and processes information differently. Howard Gardner developed a series of eight intelligences describing the variety of ways in which children learn. This study focused on the Naturalist Intelligence, an ability to recognize and discriminate different concepts in nature. A naturalist learner has strong observational skills and is good at sorting and classifying (Checkley, 1997). This evaluation compares randomly selected samples of the collections of two elementary school library media centers in order to determine whether the books in the 500s support Gardner's Theory of …

Homeschoolers' Use Of The Atlantic County Library System, Jane-Agnes Stanwood

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the needs of homeschool educators. Public libraries can play an important role in homeschooled children's social and academic lives. The study focused on whether the needs of homeschool educators from the Atlantic County area of New Jersey were being met and what other public library services could be offered to them. The number of parents reported as homeschooling their children is growing. Larger and larger numbers of homeschoolers may be relying on the public library for some of or all of their curriculum needs. By conducting a survey of the needs of homeschool educators, public librarians may …

Integrated Thematic Instruction And The Elementary School Library Media Center, Janeen C. Yacovelli

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to: 1.) determine the readiness of the three elementary school library media centers in the Egg Harbor Township public school system for implementation of integrated thematic instruction; 2.) determine the role the school library media specialist will play once integrated thematic instruction was adopted; and 3.) present these findings for other elementary schools where the integrated thematic instruction approaches might be adopted.

The population was made up of the staff of three elementary schools in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. This produced samples of three principals, three school library media specialists and 140 teachers. …

Changes In Attitudes Towards Reading Using The Accelerated Reader Program, Diana A. Heil

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this experimental study was to determine if attitudes towards reading changed when the Accelerated Reader program was implemented. The study involved six classes of sixth and seventh graders in a six-week period and used a pretest/posttest design to measure changes in attitudes towards reading. A total of 128 students were given permission slips, however only 50 students returned them. These fifty participants completed a reading attitudes survey at the beginning and conclusion of the study. The participants also answered a worksheet with questions about the book that they chose to read. Finally, the students completed reading comprehension …

The Effects Of Household Substance Abuse On The Behavioral And Emotional Outcomes Of Child Witnesses To Domestic Violence, Katherine R. Destefano

Theses and Dissertations

Both domestic violence and parental substance abuse are risk factors for childhood developmental delays and emotional problems. The purpose of this study is to determine if child witnesses of domestic violence exhibit greater levels of emotional problems when substance abuse is present in the household, and to determine how both groups of children respond to therapeutic intervention targeting these problems. The results indicate that child witnesses of domestic violence exhibit a greater level of behavioral and emotional problems when alcohol and drug abuse is also a factor. Following treatment both groups show a greater reduction in behavioral and emotional pathology …

Sibling Effects In The Adjustment Of Children Exposed To Domestic Violence, Nicole L. Mccann

Theses and Dissertations

Many studies discuss how the emotional trauma experienced by children of divorcing parents is buffered by the presence of siblings. The present study examines whether there is a similar buffering sibling effect for child witnesses to domestic violence if there is an older sibling present in the household. This study examined the differences between first born children including only children and younger siblings who have witnessed domestic violence. The Trauma Symptom Checklist and the Child Behavior Checklist were administered to 102 children aged 3-11 whose parent received shelter or outreach counseling at a New Jersey battered women's shelter. Demographic information …