THE CONCEPT OF SERVICE ORIENTATION: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE CONCEPT IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES FIELD
THE CONCEPT OF SERVICE ORIENTATION: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE CONCEPT IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES FIELD
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Date
1976-10
Authors
FIT2GIBB0NS, SHIRLEY A.
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Abstract
The Concept of Service Orientation:
An Exploratory Study on the Concept in Relationship
to the Library and Information Services Field
by SHIRLEY A. FITZGIBBONS, Ph.D.
Thesis director: Professor Ernest DeProspo
The investigation had two major objectives: (1)
to explore the concept of service orientation, and (2) to
develop a methodology for measuring the concept. Service
orientation has been considered an important professional
ideology for the field, but has never been defined sufficiently
nor measured adequately. Three definitions of
service orientation taken from the literature of the sociology
of professions and the library field were presented
as ideal types to be tested: the Traditional-Professional
Type, the Semiprofessional Type, and the Open-Systems Type.
A set of items was developed from these ideal type definitions
which formed the basis for a Q-sorts instrument.
Perceptions on service orientation were measured
for three subsets of the library and information field:
99 library school students, 100 practitioners, and 90
library leaders (leaders of the American Library Association)
for a total sample of 203 participants. The degree
of consensus between the three subsets and within each
subset was determined through the use of Q-methodology
involving a Q-sorts ranking instrument, correlations
between persons' rankings, and factor analysis of the correlations.
The importance of service orientation as a work
value was assessed through an adapted form of the Rosenberg
Work Values Instrument. Possible related demographic and
attitudinal variables were explored through a short questionnaire.
The results indicated that service is an important
work value common to the three subsets. Leaders and practitioners
especially valued the altruistic meaning of service
(contributing to society) while all three groups
valued the more general meaning (opportunity to be helpful
to others). The findings determined that not one but several
patterns of service do exist in the field as illustrated
by the three factor types created: Open-Systems,
People-Oriented, and a mixed type (both Traditional-Professional
and Open-Systems Types).
Most importantly, the general consensus on service
orientation was found to be greater than anticipated. The
three separate analyses of the sample groups indicated a
one factor solution, with a total of fifty-four consensus
items, the total number of items. A three factor solution
resulted from the combined groups analysis with a total of
thirty-seven consensus items including an awareness of the
importance: of interpersonal and communication skills; of
the process of bringing information, books, and people
together; of helping people; of the accuracy of information
given to patrons; of the liaison role of libraries; and of
planning services based on the total community.
Sufficient consensus items have been found to form
the "common core" of a definition of service. The consensus
items came from two of the posited ideal types: the
ideal Semiprofessional Type and the ideal Open-Systems
Type.
A test of the theoretical, ideal types was undertaken
by submitting an inverted Q-sorts data matrix to a
factor analysis. The ideal types were shown to be multidimensional
when tested with empirical data.
The results of the current study indicate a positive
perception of service on the part of the sample group;
they further support the critics of the professional model
of service as being inappropriate for the library field.
The ideal type, the Open-Systems Type, most closely matches
the perceptions of the field; this could have important
implications for library education and continuing education.
The open-systems, service-oriented person needs new
knowledge and expertise outside of current course offerings.
The past stereotypes of librarians need to be reanalyzed
in light of this new philosophical view of service.
The methodology used in the study, the Q-methodology,
should be useful in future studies of service.
Description
A thesis submitted to
The Graduate School
of
Rutgers University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Written under the direction of
Professor Ernest DeProspo
of the Graduate School of Library Service
Keywords
CONCEPT,, SERVICE ORIENTATION,, EXPLORATORY STUDY,, CONCEPT IN RELATIONSHIP,, LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES FIELD