A study of Zambian librarians' attitudes toward field experience as a component of library and information science education

The study sought to analyze the relationships between Zambian head librarians' attitudes toward field experience and selected variables: education; recency of education; sex; type, size, and geographical location of library; area of specialization; experience; previous participation in practicums; number of times the librarian had supervised students; librarian's perceptions about the quantity of work done in the library during field experience; and librarian's perceived quality and professional promise of students. The objectives of the study were to determine: (1) the current attitudes of Zambian librarians toward field experience, (2) whether Zambian librarians' attitudes varied according to the variables mentioned above, (3) whether Zambian librarians' attitudes were similar to those expressed in library and information science literature, and (4) to identify the type of practical experience favored by the majority of librarians. The framework of the study was based on experiential learning theory. Attitude theory provided the rationale for the research design and instrument.; Data were obtained by means of a mail questionnaire sent to 132 head librarians in Zambia. Ninety-one out of 107 returned questionnaires were considered valid. Data were analyzed using univariate and bivariate statistics. The results of the study indicated that: librarians' attitudes toward field experience were very favorable and similar to those expressed in professional literature. However, the librarians chose 'working in a library before enrolling in library school' as the most useful form of practical experience.; There was significant relationship between attitudes and librarians' perceptions about the quality and professional promise of students doing field experience. There were no significant differences in attitudes among librarians based on educational attainment, previous participation in field experience, sex, and the number of times librarians had supervised students. The study also found no significant relationships between attitudes and the other predictor variables. The conclusion was that factors other than the ones investigated, which need to be explored, influenced Zambian head librarians' attitudes toward field experience. Because of inconclusive findings, the study recommended that current programs in Zambia should be re-examined to ensure that young graduates are well prepared.