Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Digital Inclusion In The Lis Literature: An Intersectional Analysis, Hannah Nichole Fountain

Masters Theses

Digital inclusion refers to the conditions and degrees of access to information and communication technologies (ICT) among individuals and communities. This includes the variable determinants and outcomes associated with ICT connectivity, as well as efforts to mitigate digital exclusion. With the proliferation of ICT in the past 30 years, digital inclusion (and related concepts like the digital divide and digital literacy) has been a major focus of policymaking and public service efforts, with libraries serving as leaders in offering free public ICT and digital skills training. Digital inclusion research has commonly relied upon sociodemographic variables to survey determinants of …

A Quantiative Study: Public Perceptions Of Medical Librarians And Implications For Communication And Practices, Chelsea C. Jacobs

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research study is to investigate and assess whether medical librarians, clinical medical librarians, medical informationists, etc. (referred to collectively as “medical librarians”) have an obligation beyond their particular institutional role to, or aspirationally should, provide the public with medical literature that has the potential to improve an individual’s health or the public health. The survey will examine the opinions of members of the United States (U.S.) public regarding the practices of medical librarians as these practices pertain to health promotion, patient care, medical education, and clinical research.

The research design for this study is a single-phase …

Ancient Ancestors For Modern Practices: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis Of Digital Marginalia, Brianna Blackwell

Masters Theses

Marginalia, the notes readers write in the blank spaces of their books, are significant objects of study in bibliography and book history, among other fields. Due to factors including findability and fragile book materials, marginalia from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are difficult to study. The same does not necessarily have to be true for similar objects from the twenty-first century. This thesis uses Rodger’s evolutionary concept analysis to analyze the usage of digital marginalia in the scholarly literature from 1991 to 2020. Beginning with an overview of bibliography and the history of marginalia, this thesis situates digital marginalia in …

Exploring Secondary Students’ Abilities In Judging The Credibility Of Digital Content On The Internet, Katie Dailey

Masters Theses

The shift from print to digital environments has created an opportunity and responsibility for educators to focus on instructional planning and practices that reflects the growing complexity of online texts students helping to ensure that their students are information literate. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the how 83 eleventh grade high school English students judge the credibility of information on the internet. The researcher used methodological triangulation to qualitatively analyze by comparing and aligning data from the survey results, observations of students during class discussions, responses to class assignments, and the quality ratings of students’ think-aloud …

Support For Open Access In The Humanities: An Analysis Of Current Approaches, Abbey Kayleen Elder

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the ways scholarly communication librarians at academic libraries support humanities faculty at their institutions who are interested in open access. This was accomplished through a mixed method survey of scholarly communication librarians, that is librarians who offer outreach and education to faculty about open access and similar scholarly publishing innovations. The study was conducted to learn about the types of resources available for faculty interested in open access, and to specifically learn more about the types of support available for open access in the humanities. This follows other studies that have explored …

A Long Strange Trip Through The Evolution Of Fan Production, Fan-Branding, And Historical Representation In The Grateful Dead Online Archive, Anna Richardson

Masters Theses

This study explores how a digital music archive tells the story and contributes to the public memory of cult bands. Utilizing the Grateful Dead Archive Online (GDAO) as the primary data source, the researcher obtained a population of 26,835 items and categorized them by the production method of fan or band, item type, era, and logo. Content analysis illustrated themes within the archive in relation to the fannish production and activity within the fandom of the Grateful Dead. The span of this specific fandom spreads across five decades and sheds light onto the ways in which the fandom surrounding cult …

Acknowledgement Lag And Impact: Domain Differences In Published Research Supported By The National Science Foundation, Monica Inez Ihli

Masters Theses

This research combined archives of grant awards with a five-year period of bibliographic data from Web of Science in order to conduct an input-output study of research supported by the National Science Foundation. Acknowledgement lag is proposed as a new bibliometric term, defined as the time elapsed between when a grant is awarded and when a document is published which acknowledges that award. Acknowledgement lag was computed for the dataset, and domain differences in lag times were analyzed. Some areas, such as Plant & Animal Science or Social Science, were found to be more likely than other categories to acknowledge …

“Not For Casual Readers:” An Evaluation Of Digital Data From Virginia Archaeological Websites, Mark Antony Freeman

Masters Theses

Archaeological data dissemination is complicated by the need to serve disparate audiences, each of which has different data needs. This study examined the websites of 148 Virginia institutions identified as having archaeological collections or data, and used content analysis to see how they supported characteristics of scholarly publishing, open data and public outreach. Archaeologists are increasingly looking for comparative data sets for research needs, with professional ethics and a desire for public engagement encouraging data sharing. However this analysis suggests that, while there are some exemplary websites, much of the archaeological record remains publicly inaccessible. The majority of websites examined …

The Information Landscape Of A Wicked Problem: An Evaluation Of Web-Based Information On Colony Collapse Disorder For A Spectrum Of Citizen Information Seekers, Reid Isaac Boehm

Masters Theses

The following research takes a mixed method approach to understanding the information landscape of a wicked problem. Wicked problems are defined as being uncertain in cause, having many stakeholders with conflicting interests, and inevitably have no foreseeable solution. Through the study a framework is implemented that assesses a portion of the landscape of colony collapse disorder information from the federal government via the web. Using a government information valuation framework that takes into account a spectrum of citizen user needs, the research was able to look at the information content within the context of the public sphere and to apply …

Potential Effects Of Institutional Repositories On Nursing Research Dissemination, Sarah Jane Mcclung

Masters Theses

Institutional repositories (IRs) might be important tools for nursing faculty to utilize as they have the potential to improve research dissemination on a timely basis to the nursing community at large. This topic is worth investigating because the field of nursing has been struggling for many decades to facilitate the relationship between theory and methods by transferring the knowledge gained from nursing research to the approaches used in nursing practice. The recent focus on evidence-based practice in nursing education is proof of the field’s attempts at shrinking the information gap between nurse researcher and nurse clinician. Methods for dissemination have …

Lawyers And Their Books: The Augusta County Law Library Association, 1853-1883, Gregory Harkcom Stoner

Masters Theses

During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, law books of various types contained the vital information needed by Virginia’s practicing attorneys and judges. Access to these resources, however, was generally limited to personal collections and a handful of libraries. Despite numerous calls for the creation of libraries by theVirginiagovernment, state legislators took little action of note.

This study explores the history and origins of law libraries in Virginia by focusing on the formation and evolution of the Augusta County Law Library Association, one of the first libraries organized in Virginia under state legislation enacted in 1853 that authorized the creation of …

Content Analysis Of Social Tags On Intersectionality For Works On Asian Women: An Exploratory Study Of Librarything, Sheetija Kathuria

Masters Theses

This study explores how the social tags are employed by users of LibraryThing, a popular web 2.0 social networking site for cataloging books, to describe works on Asian women in representing themes within the context of intersectionality. Background literature in the domain of subject description of works has focused on race and gender representation within traditional controlled vocabularies such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). This study explores themes related to intersectionality in order to analyze how users construct meaning in their social tags. The collection of works used to search for social tags came from the Association …

Geospatial Data Accessibility In Web 2.0 Environments, Sara Helen Mcnamee

Masters Theses

Geographically referenced data is becoming a robust source of information because the use of place-based relevance searching is being employed as a popular form of information access and dispersal. To address this trend, the researcher conducted a study on the usability of the USA National Phenology Network (http://www.usanpn.org/), engaging 6 volunteer participants structured usability test of the USANPN mapping application. The participants were asked to complete two tasks, and data was collected both during (in the form of a think aloud exercise) and after the test (in the form of an exit interview). From the data collected, the researcher aimed …

Rss Feeds, Browsing And End-User Engagement, Mary Beth West

Masters Theses

Despite the vast amount of research that has been devoted separately to the topics of browsing and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) aggregation architecture, little is known about how end-users engage with RSS feeds and how they browse while using a feed aggregate. This study explores the browsing behaviors end-users exhibit when using RSS and Atom feeds. The researcher analyzed end-users’ browsing experiences and discusses browsing variations. The researcher observed, tested, and interviewed eighteen (N=18) undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee to determine how end-users engage with RSS feeds.

This study evaluates browsing using two variations of tasks, (1) an …

Developing Comic Book And Graphic Novel Collections In Libraries, Sara Dianne Ray

Masters Theses

This research study has several objectives. The first is to research graphic novels and comic books, their history and the issues this visual and literary medium has had with censorship, with preconceived notions that the medium is only meant for a juvenile audience, and with the development of rating standards. The second objective is to study current literature that has been written by scholars and librarians on this medium. This exploration of graphic novels and comic books and the scholarship and collection development efforts related to them provides a foundation for considering the issues and challenges which current and future …

Perceptions Of Digital Libraries With Indigenous Knowledge: An Exploratory Study, Debra Lynn Capponi

Masters Theses

Interest in indigenous knowledge (IK) research has grown since the 1980s, and more recently the topic has drawn attention in information sciences research. At the same time, the evolution of electronic information and communication technologies (ICTs), most notably development of the Internet, has profoundly influenced information sciences research. This study explores perceptions of community members involved in the creation, development, and use of digital libraries with indigenous knowledge materials. Research methods used in data collection include a quantitative survey distributed to community members involved in the creation, development, and use of digital libraries with indigenous knowledge materials and qualitative analysis …

Information Privacy: A Quantitative Study Of Citizen Awareness, Concern And Information Seeking Behavior Related To The Use Of The Social Security Number As A Personal Identifier, Rhonda Marisa Clossum

Masters Theses

Information technology has transformed the manner in which personal identifying information is collected, stored and shared in government agencies and private businesses. The social security number has become the de facto identifier for individuals due to its notable qualities: a nine-digit number assigned to one person by the United States government. As individuals are increasingly asked to disclose personal information, the question arises: How does the lack of awareness of social security number laws contribute to the loss of privacy, loss of control of personal information and the threat of identity theft? This study examines awareness levels of social security …

The Subject Representation Of Core Works In Women's Studies: A Critical Analysis Of The Library Of Congress Subject Headings, Susan E. Wood

Masters Theses

The system of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) has been the subject of feminist, critical examinations since the 1970s. Subject headings pertaining both to feminist literature and to women in general have been analyzed to determine how LCSH represents these topics. In this study, I contribute to this body of scholarship by analyzing and reporting on the nature of the LCSH subject representation of 52 core works published from 1986-1998 in the areas of feminist theory and women’s movements. These monographs were selected from the 3rd edition of Women’s Studies: A Recommended Bibliography (Krikos & Ingold, 2004). The analysis …

Cooperation In The Commonwealth: Perceptions Of Partnership Initiatives Between Virginia's Academic Health Sciences Libraries And Select (Contiguous) Public Library Systems For The Provision Of Consumer Health Information Services, Jessica Lynn Waugh

Masters Theses

Increasing numbers of Americans are seeking information about health and medicine. The advent of the Internet has ushered in an explosion of resources, but no mediating device to help lay people discern between authoritative current data, opinion pieces or unsubstantiated anecdotes. The field of consumer health is ripe with programs and initiatives designed to address the issue of access and education, but those are often scattered, spottily coordinated, poorly advertised and, in some cases, needlessly duplicated. The formation of robust partnerships between two major entities attempting to provide consumer health information (public libraries and academic health sciences libraries) seems logical …

Effects On Digital Image Quality When Photographing Through A Transparent Material Used To Hold Or Flatten An Original Object, Paul E. Howell

Masters Theses

An increasing number of libraries and archives are initiating projects where new and updated technologies make it practical to digitize materials containing color and fine detail. Many of the imaging systems and methods used for this process require that some type of glass or plastic be placed over the original to hold it flat and in the correct position during image capture. The physical properties of a material placed between an original object and the capture system or camera, during digitization, could possibly affect the accuracy of image color and quality being reproduced by the system. This investigation provides an …

Factors Affecting The Use Of Appalachian Children’S Literature Titles In Libraries Located In The Central Appalachian Region, As Offered By Librarians In The Central Appalachian Region, Jamie Lynn Osborn

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to describe, with the aid of a survey, the factors Library and Information Science professionals working in the Central Appalachian region believe influence the use of Appalachian Children’s Literature titles in Central Appalachian libraries. Primarily, what do librarians in the region feel affects the use of these titles to their library patrons? To thoroughly examine this issue the following research questions will be explored: Specifically, at what point in their lives, if at all, were librarians in this study exposed to Appalachian Children’s Literature? Did this exposure take place in a K-12 setting or …

Perspectives Of Rural Library Managers/Directors Regarding Professional Education: A Qualitative Study In Northwest Georgia, Christina E. Tracy

Masters Theses

Attempts have been made by several organizations, including the American Library Association (ALA), to provide greater access to professional education for library managers/directors; however, the rural environment presents unique challenges to education not addressed by many of the policies and programs currently in place. This study examined the perspectives of library managers/directors in rural Northwest Georgia about the factors that impede or facilitate professional degree attainment. Participants included twelve library managers/directors serving in rural communities. Qualitative interviews with the library managers/directors identified their experiences and issues including challenges and incentives to professional degree attainment. The principal findings include: the difference …

The Primary Source: Issues In The Usability Of Genealogical Records, Patrick O'Daniel

Masters Theses

This thesis examines genealogists’ information needs and discusses how librarians can accommodate them by providing access to essential primary sources as well as making those materials user-friendly. It includes a review of relevant literature and the results of a survey of experienced genealogists that shed light on the informationseeking behavior of genealogists. It identifies problems experienced by genealogists in their search for information and recommends solutions by explaining what librarians can do to make primary sources more accessible and usable for genealogists. In doing so, it also illuminates the goals of genealogists, how they search for information, and what they …

State Libraries In The United States: Identifying And Meeting The Challenges Of The Twenty- First Century, Sandra G. Treadway

Masters Theses

State libraries are important organizations within the library community in the United States, yet little has been written about them and students learn almost nothing about them in the course of graduate study in library and information sciences. State libraries’ contributions to their profession and the citizens they serve are not as well known as they should be nor are they appropriately acknowledged beyond their immediate constituencies.

This study examines a sample of nine state libraries during the past twenty years – three that are highly successful (the California State Library, the New York State Library, and the Library of …

Behavioral Intention Determinants Towards Post-Secondary Education: Clues For Strategic Message Development, Stacia Elaine Couch

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore and identify factors that might increase the probability that a high school student will pursue post-secondary education. An understanding of these factors can help state government appropriately design policies, programs, and public awareness initiatives to persuade more youth to achieve higher levels of education. A review of persuasion and education literature revealed 17 possible variables as determinants of a student’s behavioral intention towards continuing education, seven of which were developed through factor analysis.

The data utilized in this study was collected by researchers in the Center for Business and Economic Research under …

Health Information Need And Seeking Of Older Adults Residing In An Independent-Living Retirement Community: A Qualitative Study, Sheri L. Edwards

Masters Theses

Among the information needs experienced by older adults, health information needs consistently achieve a high ranking. The purpose of this study was to examine the health information needs of older adults residing in an independent-living retirement community, as well as the information channels they use for information. Additionally, this study explored whether information channels satisfied older adults’ health information needs. Face-to-face in-depth interviews revealed that older adults experience a variety of health information needs; the emergence of those needs is attributed to varying circumstances. While the older adults in this study often use one or more information channels to satisfy …

Information-Seeking Behavior Of Social Sciences And Humanities Researchers In The Internet Age, Xuemei Ge

Masters Theses

This study focuses on how Internet technology influences and contributes to the information-seeking process in the social sciences and humanities. The study examines the information-seeking behavior of faculty and doctoral students in these fields and observes and extends Ellis’s model of information-seeking behavior for social scientists, which includes six characteristics: starting, chaining, browsing, differentiating, monitoring, and extracting.

The study was conducted at Tennessee State University. Thirty active social sciences and humanities faculty and doctoral students were interviewed about their use of Internet resources, their perception of electronic and print materials, and their opinions concerning the Ellis model and how it …

Identifying Successful Competitive Intelligence Practices Used In Nonprofits: A Survey Of Competitive Intelligence Strategies Used By Professional Fundraisers To Enhance Fundraising Success, Heidi H. Gillis

Masters Theses

Competitive intelligence is a popular technique used to gain a competitive advantage in for-profit businesses. This research examines the use of competitive intelligence in nonprofits, particularly how competitive intelligence is used or can be used to enhance fundraising success. A web based survey polled members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals on their uses of specific competitive intelligence strategies, particularly environmental scanning, use of focus groups and database research. It was found that non-profits are using some competitive intelligence methods, but find a lack of time, lack of funds, and lack of staff are prohibiting factors in implementing a full-scale …

Art In The Archives: A Survey Of Artists' Papers In Tennessee, Celia S. Walker

Masters Theses

This study is the first known survey of visual art materials housed in Tennessee's repositories. Little has been written about the arts materials in the state's repositories and no overview exists for art scholars. The purpose of the study was to create a profile of collecting in Tennessee of visual art materials in relation to policies, funding levels, and collection accessibility. It was determined that almost one-half of responding repositories in Tennessee maintain some visual art primary resources in their vertical files. The presence of collection policies and missions that speak directly to the need to collect art resources was …

Political Perspectives In Encyclopedias: Portrayal Of The Nicaraguan Revolution, Brian B. Smith

Masters Theses

Encyclopedia text is most often presented as objective, factual, authoritatively documented truth. To examine this knowledge claim, this thesis analyzes the portrayal of the 1979 Nicaraguan revolution in editions of the four major U.S. encyclopedias. A qualitative content analysis is employed to determine the political perspectives present in encyclopedia coverage of the Nicaraguan revolution and the subsequent changes in Nicaraguan political economy brought about by that revolution.

The findings indicate that significant differences among and within the encyclopedias existed in the text analyzed. A variety of political perspectives were found to have influenced the content of the text, and to …