| The Problem. The overall objective of the study was to identify, compare, and contrast the fundamental personal values and their variations among students in the field of library and information science in Nigeria and the United States.It is of importance that both library educators and administrators understand the value patterns of students and staff respectively. Knowledge of these will prove useful to the educator in the professional socialization of the entrant and aid the administrator in achieving the role compatibility for the employee.The substantive problems of this study were: (1) What are the value patterns of United States library science students? (2) What are the value patterns of Nigerian library science students? (3) How similar or different are these values? (4) Are the differences significant? (5) What are the implications of these values for various occupational roles in the profession?Method. The study was conducted in eight universities, four each from the United States and Nigeria. The total number of students involved was two hundred and eighty.The central thesis of the study is that individuals are imbued with values from their cultures and that these values and their effect on those who possess them have implications for organizational behavior.The Allport-Vernon-Lindsay Study of Values and a Survey Questionnaire were administered to the students in the study.Results. The American library science student emphasizes theoretical, aesthetic, and social values and de-emphasizes economic, political, and religious values. The Nigerian male library science student, on the one hand, emphasizes economic, theoretical and social values while de-emphasizing aesthetic, political, and religious values. On the other hand, the Nigerian female library science student emphasizes economic, social, and religious values while de-emphasizing theoretical, aesthetic, and political values. U.S. female library science students scored high on the aesthetic and low on the religious value while Nigerian female library science students scored high on the religious and low on the aesthetic value.Conclusions and Possible Implications. In general, librarians in the United States are a more homogenous group. The value profiles of both men and women are identical and differed from those of their Nigerian counterparts. The Nigerian librarians are a less homogenous group, with essentially different value profiles for the men and women. Library science students as seen in this study have strong theoretical value orientation, a cast of mind that may be needed to move the occupation forward in a time of change and innovation. Findings from this study suggest a weak political orientation of the library science student. Because of the political nature of the environment in which the library is imbedded, an environment of interest groups competing over scarce resources, the non-political value profile of the members of this occupational group might be an element of concern to library educators. The social value orientation of the library science student as brought out in the study might be indicative of the service nature of the profession.The profession of librarianship may not be one that requires a particular profile of value orientation, as some vocations seem to do. The best course from a national planning standpoint might be a laissez-faire approach. However, library educators would do well to know the value patterns of their students and contrive their lessons so that the students' existing values are aroused but at the same time new points of view and possible values are transmitted. |
