A comparative study of role perceptions of school library media specialists and information power guidelines

The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptions of school library media specialists concerning their role under actual work conditions with the perceptions of what their role would be under ideal work conditions. It also sought to analyze the role recommended by the American Association of School Librarians in Information Power (ALA, 1988) and compare it with actual and ideal role perceptions.; The research further sought to identify the media specialist's role in teaching information literacy skills, in participating in instructional development activities, and in fostering reading literacy through literature-based reading programs actually, ideally, and as recommended by the AASL.; An attitude questionnaire, Role Expectations of Library Media Specialists, developed for studying media specialists perceptions of role was used in this study. On a Likert-type scale, respondents indicated strength of agreement or disagreement with the way things should be, the ideal, or the way they really are, the actual, in the media center. They were also asked to supply some demographic data.; The instrument was mailed to a stratified random sample of 477 members of the AASL. Using the Dillman Total Design Method of gathering data, an 81% response rate was obtained.; Separate factor analyses were performed to identify items which clustered together. The first factor analysis considered responses to real working situations; the second considered role perceptions under ideal working conditions. Both were principal axis factor analyses with squared multiple correlations. To test for differences between actual and ideal role perceptions t-tests were performed on factor-based sub-scales. Roles that were similar were then compared for compatibility with role recommendations in Information Power (ALA, 1988).; Results of the data analysis indicate that a discrepancy clearly exists between real and ideal role perceptions of media specialists. This is apparent through the emergence of four factors under real role perceptions and only three under ideal conditions. For the three roles that emerged under both conditions, media specialists indicated a preference for performing these roles to a greater extent than they actually do. Further, it was found that the roles which emerged under both real and ideal conditions were compatible with the role recommendations in Information Power (ALA, 1988).