GRADUATE LIBRARY EDUCATION AND THE RANKING GAME: AN ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL RANKINGS BASED ON PROGRAM VARIATION VERSUS PEER RANKINGS OF QUALITY PROGRAMS

The purpose of this study was to determine the distinctive underlying elements which contribute to the variance of accredited graduate library science programs and to compare programs ranked according to their strengths on these elements or factors with programs ranked according to opinions of peers. Related questions were also pursued: whether there were differences in peer and factor rankings among programs which have masters versus doctoral level programs, and whether there were differences in rankings of the programs in private versus public institutions.;The study found that peer rankings of master's degree programs and of programs that contribute most to professional advancement correlate (using Spearman's rho) very highly with all the factor rankings of programs (p < .05) except with the extension factor.;Many of the factor rankings of programs also correlate highly with each other: Faculty productivity, program resources and size correlate highly (p < .05); percent of external funding correlates highly with program resources; in fact, program resources correlates highly with all other factors except extension; institutional and program size correlates highly with all except extension and percent of external funding. The extension factor stands alone, however. Schools ranked according to strength on that factor do not correlate with any other factor rankings.;The study also found through chi-square tests that there was a significant number of doctoral programs in the top half of both the peer rankings and in the rankings according to three factors: productivity (p < .001), program resources (p < .001), and size (p < .001). Doctoral programs tend to be larger (factor 3), have more external support (factor 2) and produce more publications (factor 1), and their rankings on these factors correlate very strongly with rankings by peers.;For the project data were selected from the Association of American Library Schools' 1978-79 survey of all library schools in the U.S. and Canada. Fifty-six accredited programs formed the basis for the study. Fifty-nine variables were factor analyzed to reduce the number of variables for consideration. Twenty-one variables loaded with at least a 0.5 loading on five different factors. These factors were faculty productivity, percent of external funding in the budget, program resources, extension, and institutional and program size.;More information must be collected on the process of education in master's programs rather than merely on the credentials of faculty or the resources of programs.