Library and Information Science Commons^™

Academic Library Behaviors And Perceptions Of A Community College’S Distance Learners, Cantrell Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Over 1,200 community colleges nationwide enroll over ten million students each year, with more than one in four of these students taking some of their courses at a distance. Many of these post-secondary institutions also struggle to retain and graduate students enrolled as distance learners. In a continuing effort to address college completion gaps, research attempts to identify barriers to success and provide insights on how to decrease college completion gaps. Given post-secondary education’s increased focus on students’ use of resources beyond the classroom, a logical line of exploration is the link between academic library usage and library aptitudes and …

Anatomy Of A Social Media Movement: Diffusion, Sentiment And Network Analysis, Md Hassan Zamir

Theses and Dissertations

Social media has increased the availability of abundant user interaction data. Technology-mediated social participation tools like Twitter can inform us about collective actions and social movement mobilization. Current focus of social media and social movement research are on usage and impact of technology during historical uprisings. But online social networks are participatory mediums, and filled up with multi-dimensional user interactions, which requires more concrete attentions and need investigations at granular levels. Moreover, limited attention has been paid on how activists develop online social networks. This study stressed on Twitter’s ability of helping in making sense of online debates and present …

Causes Of Satisfaction And Disatisfaction For Diversity Resident Librarians – A Mixed Methods Study Using Herzberg’S Motivation-Hygiene Theory, Jason Kelly Alston

Theses and Dissertations

Diversity residency librarian programs are post-MLIS programs aimed at providing recently graduated professionals with real work experience, with the expressed goal of recruiting and retaining a more-diverse workforce in professional librarianship.

This mixed-method study is one of the first empirical studies examining diversity residencies, which – at the time of this writing – have existed for more than 30 years. The study identifies concerns raised in the mostly anecdotal literature about diversity residencies, and 102 individuals identified as current or former diversity resident librarians participated in the quantitative portion of the study. In the quantitative portion of this study, there …

Shifting The Aircraft Carrier: Why Race Matters In Museums And Historic Sites: An Examination Of Inclusive Practices, Porchia Moore

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the increased urgency in the field of cultural heritage informatics (specifically museums and historic sites) to articulate clear methods for inclusive praxis. Less than 10% of all museum visitors are people of color. Coupled with the fact that 80% of the museum workforce constitutes a demographic of white women; with changing racial demographics in this country, museums and historic sites are grappling with how to address and understand “doing” diversity and inclusion in museums. This study is a critical case study of a brand new historic site and museum that is attempting to be wholly inclusive by …

In Your Experience: Pathways And Barriers For Female Students Of Stem, Elizabeth J. Hartnett

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the gender gap that exists in the STEM professions. The number of jobs in STEM is climbing rapidly, but participation by women is disproportionately low. Although they make up roughly half of the overall population, women account for only about one quarter of the STEM workforce. A similar gap exists among undergraduates majoring in STEM fields. This is an exploratory study intended to identify and explore factors contributing to this gender gap, as perceived by undergraduate students. Through an online survey and follow-up interviews of undergraduates at two universities in the southeastern United States, data were collected …

Exploring The Role Of Culture In Online Searching Behavior From A Cognitive Perspective, Sara Chizari

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates differences in Web search behavior from a “cultural cognition” perspective, which was introduced by Nisbett and Norenzayan (2002). To explore the impact of culture and thinking styles on searching behavior is the objective. The overarching hypothesis is that there are cultural differences in cognitive styles and that these differences may lead into different searching behaviors. The findings help search engine designers provide an adaptive navigation support to users from different cultural backgrounds and cognitive styles. The fundamental research question underpinning this research becomes what are the relationships between users’ cognitive styles and cultural background, and their Web …