Graduate Research Papers

Availability

Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Abstract

Nonprofessionals or aides in the media centers are an im­portant part of an effective educational media program. They are essential as support staff to strengthen and complement the services that can be provided.

This study was conducted to determine (1) what tasks are media nonprofessionals performing? (2) what tasks , if any, are media nonprofessionals performing which are usually considered to be tasks which are the responsibility of certificated media professionals and (3) how many, if any, appear to be supervising and instructing students without themselves being supervised by a media professional?

A questionnaire was sent to the media center aides in the elementary schools (K-S) in four Area Education Agencies in Iowa. The results of this study showed the following:

Hypothesis 1

Hypothesis 1 was tested in relation to performance of tasks in the presence of a full time media specialist.

H1 was rejected in the instruction and selection and acquisition categories in schools in all four Area Education Agencies.

H1 was accepted in schools in AEA 9 in the organization of materials category, but rejected in schools in AEA's 2, 12, and 15.

H1 was accepted in the circulation category in schools in all four Area Education Agencies.

H1 was accepted in only the AEA 9 schools in the clerical -secretarial category.

H1 was accepted in schools in all four AEA's in both the cate­gories of processing of materials and maintenance.

Hypothesis 2

Hypothesis 2 was tested in relation to performance of tasks in the presence of a part time media specialist. H2 was rejected in the selection and acquisition category in schools in all four Area Education Agencies.

H2 was accepted in the instruction category in schools in AEA's 9 and 12, but rejected in schools in AEA's 2 and 15.

H2 was accepted in the categories of organization of materials, circulation, processing of materials and maintenance in schools in all four AEA's.

H2 was accepted in only AEA 9 schools in the clerical - secre­tarial category and rejected in schools in AEA's 2, 12, and 15.

Hypothesis 3

Hypothesis 3 was tested in relation to performance of tasks when there was no media specialist's supervision.

H3 was accepted in schools in AEA's 2, 9, and 12 in the instruc­tion and clerical - secretarial categories, but rejected in schools in AEA 15.

H3 was accepted in the five categories of selection, organization of materials, circulation, processing of materials and maintenance in schools in all four Area Education Agencies.

This study suggests that professional, as well as nonprofession­al, tasks are being performed by the total group of aides with or without supervision.

Year of Submission

1982

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Library Science

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this graduate research paper and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit an email request to scholarworks@uni.edu. Include your name and clearly identify the thesis by full title and author as shown on the work.

Date Original

1982

Object Description

1 PDF file (v, 66 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Download

Comments?

Share

COinS