Foreign Students and U.S. Academic Libraries: A Case Study of Foreign Students and Libraries in Two Universities in New Orleans, Louisiana
Sarkodie-Mensah, Kwasi
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/69501
Description
Title
Foreign Students and U.S. Academic Libraries: A Case Study of Foreign Students and Libraries in Two Universities in New Orleans, Louisiana
Author(s)
Sarkodie-Mensah, Kwasi
Issue Date
1988
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Weech, Terry L.
Auld, Lawrence W.S.
Department of Study
Library Science
Discipline
Library Science
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Library Science
Abstract
This study explored difficulties foreign students encounter in their use of U.S. academic libraries, their patterns of library use, and the nature of libraries in their countries. A questionnaire was sent to all foreign students at Tulane University and the University of New Orleans. A total of 388 responses out of the 611 questionnaires sent were received. One major and three sub-hypotheses were developed for the study. The main hypothesis was based on previous exposure of the students to libraries and the level of difficulty in using the library. The three sub-hypotheses concerned country of origin, number of years spent on campus and in the United States in general, and the languages of instruction at various academic levels in the countries of the students. Among other findings, the analysis of the general data revealed the following: the students would readily ask for assistance in times of need; large library collections were not new to the majority of them; the concept of open stacks was not as foreign to as many of them as one might have expected.
Comments from the respondents included basic questions on library operation and the behavior of American librarians towards foreign students.
Chi-square and Spearman/Kendall correlation tests were used in testing the various hypotheses. Language of instruction proved to have the strongest relationship with the variables used in measuring patterns and difficulty in library use. Coming after language was years spent on the campuses by the students and the total number of years they had spent in the U.S. as a whole. Previous exposure to libraries, measured in terms of the existence of libraries in the grade and/or high schools of the respondents, and country of origin were the two variables that had the least statistically significant findings with the variables utilized in measuring patterns and difficulties in library use.
More studies should be done on foreign students and their use of libraries in the United States to provide better understanding of their patterns of library use, and their level of difficulty in using the library.
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