Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Academic Librarians' Role In Gatekeeping: The Influence Of Vendor Labeling On Academic Library Collections, Melissa Cast-Brede

Criss Library Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of one corporate book vendor on collection holdings in seven Carnegie Class L academic libraries in the areas of practice of education and educational administration. The study uses the communicative rationality theory of Habermas (1989), the habitus work of Bourdieu (1988; 1993), and the gatekeeping theory of Lewin (1947) as theoretical frameworks for explaining how book vendors serve as a connection between organizations and individuals and the librarian’s gatekeeping role in collection development. Analysis of variance was used to measure overall congruence. Library employee size, vendorsupplied categories, and vendor-supplied labels …