Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.

Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Thinking style preferences among the public library directors of Florida

Leroy Hommerding, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether public library directors in the state of Florida evidence a preferred style of thinking. Public library directors as listed in the 2001 52nd edition of the Florida Library Directory with Statistics were contacted. To facilitate this investigation, the Sternberg-Wagner Thinking Style Preferences Questionnaire was distributed in a statewide survey, with the scores analyzed in terms of occurrences and percentage. The study achieved an 85.7% (126) return rate, with a total of 124 surveys used for data analysis. The descriptive analysis gave clear evidence of directors having a profile of styles rather than a single style, and there were was a notable difference between high and low preferences for each of the 13 thinking styles. Five conclusions addressed are: (a) the potential for the development of the legislative and global thinking styles among Library Directors; (b) the potential for development of a flat thinking style among directors participating in the study regarding internal and external scope of thinking, and liberal and conservative leaning of thinking; (c) why low preference for anarchic, judicial, hierarchic, and local thinking styles might exist; (d) the apparent influence of the library world upon thinking style profiles; and (e) gender and thinking style preference. Recommendations for future study and ideas for improving Library Director administration were included.

Subject Area

Cognitive therapy|Library science|Occupational psychology

Recommended Citation

Hommerding, Leroy, "Thinking style preferences among the public library directors of Florida" (2002). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3070128.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3070128

Share

COinS