Determinants of innovation in United States public libraries

The goal of this thesis is to participate in and continue a line of research which examines the relationships between organizational innovation and organizational performance. Specifically, the public libraries of the two-hundred largest cities in the United States are analyzed. The innovations under study are the seven major computer-based innovations made available to libraries by library automation firms during the period 1969-1990. Data collection methods included survey questionnaire and published records.;The tenability of the model and that of eleven hypotheses were tested via path analysis. The model was confirmed despite that only eight of twenty-three hypothesized paths were confirmed. Hierarchical regression was applied to test for the possibility of interaction relationships. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis agreed with those of path analysis. No significant relationship was found between organizational innovation and organizational performance. Interaction effects were virtually inexistent.;A second path analytic model was built based on a refinement of the original model. The second model unveiled the importance of city's population as the main environmental factor. Once again a significant relationship between organizational innovation and organizational performance was not found.;A disaggregate measure of organizational innovation made clear that particular library automation innovations do have a significant relationship with measures of library performance. Libraries that have adopted the on-line cataloging system showed a larger than average number of items circulated. Circulation is also fostered by the synergistic effect of the on-line circulation system with the acquisitions, on-line cataloging, and on-line public access catalog systems.;A model of organization performance is built based on two main constructs, environment and organizational structure. The model posits that the organizational decision to adopt an innovation is not taken in a vacuum. External (environmental) factors as well as internal (organizational structure) factors have a definite impact on such decisions. Equally important, the adoption of an innovation is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a mean to reach an ulterior goal, i.e. organizational performance. The model is time-based. It recognizes that the different factors exercise lagged rather than immediate effects.