Graduate Research Papers

Availability

Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the extent to which Iowa school systems, employing media specialists, were utilizing adult volunteers in elementary media centers and to determine the tasks the adult volunteers were being assigned. A survey instrument, consisting of equal parts of both professional and nonprofessional tasks randomly selected from the Task Analysis Survey Instrument, was sent to one hundred twenty-one Iowa elementary school media centers. These elementary school media centers indicated the presence of a media specialist on the Basic Education Data Survey 1982-1983. One hundred and eight survey instruments were returned, and this represented a return rate of 89.25 percent.

Two hypotheses were tested. First, fifty percent of Iowa's elementary schools responding would utilize adult volunteers in school media centers. Fifty or 46.29 percent of the responding elementary media specialists stated the use of adult volunteers; therefore, this hypothesis was rejected. However, the second was accepted. The hypothesis stated that at least 75 percent of the tasks performed by a majority of the adult volunteers were nonprofessional tasks. Thirty-three or sixty-six percent of the fifty respondents assigned at least 75 percent nonprofessional tasks to their adult volunteers. Fourteen or forty-two percent stated they had adult volunteers perform one hundred percent nonprofessional tasks.

In addition gathered data indicated the nonprofessional tasks most frequently performed by volunteers, the nonprofessional tasks not assigned to adult volunteers, and professional tasks most frequently performed by volunteers. Also the responding media specialists had a tendency to assign a nonprofessional task with greater frequency than did their part-time counterpart.

Year of Submission

1983

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Library Science

First Advisor

W. Duane Johnson

Comments

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Date Original

11-1983

Object Description

1 PDF file (ii, 43 pages)

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