The 57-page study presents data from 1,566 undergraduates from 4-year colleges in the United States about their attitudes towards study and careers generally in library science and specifically in special collections and image management. Data is presented separately for library science, special collections and digital management – in the aggregate – and also broken out by 18 variables. Among these variables: income, race/ethnicity, college major, gender, regional origins, sexual orientation, college grades, SAT/ACT scores, personal level of religiosity, student debt load, year of class standing, public/private school status and other variables.
Just a few of the report’s many findings are that:
More than 11.5% of students over age 30 expressed an interest in study in library science, the highest among any age group in the sample.
The level of interest by women in library science courses is approximately 50% higher than that of men.
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Students raised in the US South had a much higher level of interest in special collections than those raised in other regions of the United States.
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Mixed race students had a higher level of interest in special collections than students of any other racial/ethnic background.
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Students raised abroad had the highest level of interest in digital image management.
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In digital image management, unlike many other areas of library science, men were more interested than women.