College and Research Libraries Research Notes Learning Styles of Academic Librarians Jin M. Choi Characteristics of learning styles of 140 aca- demic librarians in public and technical ser- vices were examined based on Kolb's Learning Style Inventory. The most common learning styles among academic librarians were found to be the assimilator (38. 6 percent) followed by the converger (27.1 percent), indicating librar- ians' strengths in abstract conceptualization. Contrary to folklore in the field, the learning styles of technical and public services librarians show no statistically significant differences. In addition, the relationships between learning styles and other variables such as sex, age group, undergraduate major, and length of professional experience are discussed. As the social and technological environ- ment of libraries changes rapidly, so also has the nature of library services and pro- fessional practices changed. Development of new information technologies seems to be the single most important agent of change and to have had profound impact upon library and information profession- als. Although we do not have empirical data to assess the impact of such change, nor to predict the future of our profession, what seems evident is that the current sit- uation requires reorganization in libraries and changes in staff and demands new knowledge and skills from professional li- brarians. Continuing education seems to be the most logical coping mechanism for such change. Unfortunately, in attempts to manage this change in libraries through profes- sional development, library administra- tors seem to operate on rules of thumb rather than on a sold knowledge of the in- dividual needs of the professionals. For example, it is frequently mentioned in the literature that the application of technology-such as integrated library automation-will alter the traditional divi- sion between technical and public ser- vices.1-3 At the same time, it is asserted that II individual librarians are not as inter- changeable within libraries as most ad- ministrators would like to assume. ' 14 In addition, there has been a long-standing belief about the dichotomy between tech- nical and public services-the "backroom/ frontroom library mentality." 5 Many as- sume that librarians in technical services are II different'' from those in public ser- vices in that those in technical services tend to be more analytical and oriented to- ward things while those in public services ]in M. Choi is Assistant Professor at the College of Library and lnfonnation Services, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742. This research was made possible by a Faculty/Librarian Cooperative Research Grant funded by the Council on Library Resources. The author thanks Nancy Washington, Assistant Director of Library Processing Center, University of South Carolina, who coauthored a report ("Learning Styles of Academic Librarians and Implications for Professional Developments"), and Shika Mathur for her research assistance. 691 692 College & Research Libraries are more oriented toward people. These assumptions, however, have never been tested, and library administrators do not seem to have adequate knowledge about whether there are any real differences be- tween these two.types of librarians. We simply do not know how to accom- plish the most effective match between in- dividuals and work assignments in order to fulfill both individual and organiza- tional needs. Nor do we know how to pro- vide avenues of career development that promote utilization of human resources in the most effective way within the profes- sion. Perhaps it is time for us to take a close look at individual differences in learning styles or cognitive styles to deter- mine if such knowledge could provide meaningful insights or valid guidance for the effective match between individuals and work assignments, as well as for ca- reer development within the profession. A literature survey of the last twenty years demonstrates that research interest in cognitive and learning styles in the field of library and information science has in- creased gradually. Research interest in this area has been drawn from two per- spectives: One group of researchers, for example, Tefko Saracevic and Paul Kan- tor/ Christin Borgman/ Trudi Bellardo, 8 H. Elkerton and R.C. Williges/ S. Sitton and G. Chmelir/0 and N. N. Woelfl, 11 in- vestigated cognitive styles or learning styles as a way to understand individual differences in performance in using com- puters. The other group of researchers, for example, B. L. Stein and others, u Stein and H. L. Totten, 13 S. J. Mcintire and C. L. Mcintire, 14 D. H. Jonassen and G. G. Hodges, 15 Kerry Johnson and Marilyn White, 16 and Jana V arlejs, 17 examined cog- nitive styles or learning styles of students enrolled in library and information science programs concerning career counseling. However, knowledge about the learning styles of practicing professional librarians still seems to be inadequate. In this context, the purposes of this study are (1) to identify the predominant learning style of academic librarians work- ing in public and technical services; (2) to determine if the learning styles of aca- demic librarians working in public ser- November 1989 vices and those in technical service are sig- nificantly different; and (3) to assess the relationships between learning styles and other variables, such as sex, age group, undergraduate major, and length of pro- fessional experience. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: KOLB'S EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THEORY The theoretical framework of this study is based on David Kolb' s experiential learning theocy1s-20 and his Learning Style Inventory. 21' 22 Kolb' s model conceptual- izes the learning process as a four-stage cycle and identifies four different learning styles. Kolb' s learning cycle includes con- crete experience (CE), reflective observa- tion (RO), abstract conceptualization (AC), and active experimentation (AE), which suggests that one learns from con- crete experience, then concrete experience forms the basis for observation and reflec- tion, which in turn leads to formation of abstract concepts and generalizations. This formation of concepts and general- izations then guides the choice of new ex- periences. Kolb, however, recognized two dialectic dimensions of the learning pro- cess: the concrete/abstract (AC-CE) and the active/reflective (AE-RO) dimensions. According to Kolb, in the process of learn- ing, we tend to resolve this dialectic ten- sion by accentuating one ability over the other. Thus, learning styles represent an individual's learning preference between these two dimensions. As a result, there are four learning styles (or learning style quadrants). They are the converger, the diverger, the assimilator, and the accom- modator, as shown in figure 1. To be specific, the converger tends to prefer abstract and active learning modes. Kolb found that convergers tend to have strengths in the practical application of ideas and they tend to be unemotional, preferring to deal with things rather than people. This learning style is typical of in- dividuals with engineering and physical science backgrounds. Divergers are the opposite of convergers in that they tend to prefer reflective and concrete learning modes and they tend to be emotional and interested in people. This style is charac- Research Notes 693 CONCRETE EXPERIENCE ACCOMMODATOR Getting things done Risk taking Leadership Careers In Organizations Managers Managers/ Accountants Careers In Business Marketing-Salesperson Government-Politician DIVERGER Imaginative ability Understanding people Brainstorming Careers In Arts Literature, Artists Careers In Service Organizations Social Work Psychology ACTIVE REFLECTIVE EXPERIMENTATION+------..... ~------+ OBSERVATION CONVERGER Problem solving Defining problems Deductive reasoning Careers as Specialists Economics Engineering Careers In Technology Medicine Computer Science Physical Science _ASSIMILATOR Planning Defining problems Developing theories Information Careers Education-Teacher /Librarian Sociology Careers In Science Mathematics Physical Science Biology Researcher ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALIZATION FIGURE 1 Four Learning Style Quadrants teristic of people with humanities and lib- eral arts backgrounds. Assimilators prefer abstract and reflective learning modes, and they are less interested in people and are less concerned with the practical use of theories. Kolb found that individuals with science careers or information careers, such as teacher, librarian, minister, or col- lege professor, tend to have the assimila- tive learning style. Accommodators are 694 College & Research Libraries the opposite of assimilators in that their strengths lie in concrete experience and active experimentation. Accommodators are good at carrying out plans, tend to take risks, and are commonly found among people with business and management background. 23 Interestingly, however, Kolb pointed out that learning styles are adaptive. They can be modified and accentuated in a way to match individual characteristics and en- vironmental demands. Kolb further stated that such matches come about in two ways: either environments tend to engen- der changes in individual characterjstics to fit them, or individuals tend to select themselves into environments that are consistent with their personal characteris- tics. Based on this conceptual framework, Kolb devised an instrument called the Learning Style Inventory to map one's learning style into the learning style quad- rants (i.e., converger, diverger, etc.). Basi- cally, Kolb' s study led him to generalize that individuals who are in a similar career tend to have a similar learning style and that deviation from the career path takes place if there is a mismatch between indi- vidual characteristics and career environ- ment. One of the underlying implications of Kolb' s theory is that one can identify the predominant learning style of a group of people in a certain field and use this in- formation as a basis to guide career choice, career development, and instructional de- sign. METHODOLOGY November 1989 of those surveyed returned the materials. The LSI generates six scores: four basic scores and two combination scores. The four basic scores are the sum of ranking scores (between one and four) for each of the four categories, that is, concrete expe- rience (CE), reflective observation (RO), abstract conceptualization (AC), and ac- tive experimentation (AE). Two combina- tion scores reflect one's preference on the two dialectic dimensions and are obtained by AC-CE and AE-RO. Learning style quadrants were determined by plotting the two combination scores on the learn- ing style grid. Data on demographic variables such as sex, age, undergraduate major, and length of professional experience were ob- tained by the supplementary question- naire. RESULTS Profile of Respondents Of 148 respondents, 8 returned either incomplete or unusable LSis and were subsequently eliminated. Of 140 accepted returns, 73 (52 percent) were from techni- cal services and 67 (48 percent) were from public services (table 1). All in all, the ma- jor characteristics of the respondents were as expected (table 2): they were female, between thirty and fifty years of age, had a varying range of professional experiences, and had majored in the humanities. Predominant Learning Style among Academic Librarians The most common learning style among The Learning Style Inventory 1985 (LSI) the academic librarians surveyed was and a supplementary questionnaire were found to be the assimilator (38.6 percent), used to obtain data on learning styles and followed by the converger (27.1 percent), other individual attributes. Survey instru- the diverger (19.3 percent), and the ac- ments were distributed to 200 librarians commodator (15 percent). As stated, as- working in technical service and public similators tend to prefer reflective and ab- service (100 for each group) of twenty stract modes of learning and convergers member-libraries of the Association of Re- prefer active and abstract modes of learn- search Libraries. A total of 148 (74 percent) ing. Thus, one can safely state that a rna- Technical services Public services Total TABLE 1 SURVEY RESPONSE Number Distributed 100 (50%) 100 (50%) 200 (100%) Number Returned 73 (51%) 75 (49%) 148 (100%) Number Completed 73 (52%) 67 (48%) 140 (100%) TABLE2 PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS Number Percent Sex Male 48 34.3 Female 92 65.7 Ag~~oup 13 9.3 30-40 54 38.6 40-50 54 38.6 >50 19 13.6 Len~h of experience 1- 6v 40 28.6 5-1 5v 25 17.9 10-1 yr 32 22.9 >15yr 43 30.7 Undergraduate major Humanities 101 72.1 Social science 31 22.1 Science 7 5.0 jority of academic librarians tend to prefer or have strength in abstract conceptualiza- tion. Kolb described assimilators as indi- viduals who are "best at understanding a wide range of information and putting it into concise, logical form, and they are less focused on people and more inter- ested in abstract ideas and concepts. " 24 Given the nature of the profession, it is not surprising that academic librarians tend to have assimilative and convergent learning styles. The fact that the assimila- tive learning style is the most common among academic librarians is consistent with Kolb's finding. What is interesting and contrasts with Kolb' s generalization (i.e., the undergraduate major is one of the most influential factors determining one's learning style and individuals with a humanities and liberal arts background tend to have a divergent learning style) is that the majority (72.1 percent) of the re- spondents had a humanities or liberal arts background; yet their learning styles do not seem to conform to the expected norm (i.e., divergent learning style). Instead, they showed strong preference toward convergent or assimilative learning styles. It is difficult to speculate on the reasons for such discrepancy based on the given data. However, if indeed Kolb' s generalization is valid, one could speculate that among the respondents, one of two things might have happened: either the individual left the field of their undergraduate major and chose librarianship among alternatives Research Notes 695 since it is consistent with their learning style, or the nature of the profession, once they entered it, tended to stress abstract conceptualization (which is the common denominator of assimilators and con- vergers). Thus, the individual learning styles were modified toward a match with the learning ability emphasized by the profession. Yet, it is only a speculation and requires further investigation. What is evident is that academic librarians seem to pre- fer or have strengths in abstract conceptualiza- tion. Difference among Learning Styles of Academic Librarians in Technical Services and Public Services In contrast to widely held beliefs in the field, public services librarians and techni- cal services librarians showed no statisti- cally significant difference in their learn- ing style distributions. These two groups seem to be quite homogeneous and showed a great deal of similarity in their learning style distributions. As shown in tables 3 and 4, both the chi-square test on the distribution of learning style quad- rants and the one-way ANOV A test on the mean LSI scores by specialties yielded no statistically significant difference between the groups. It is rather puzzling in that Kolb25 and others26-27 found that learning styles do differ among the specialty groups within the field as, for instance; in medical science or business. Again, what accounts for this inconsistency is not clear. However, two explanations are possible: one is that academic librarians are indeed a homogenous group; the other is that Kolb' s LSI might not be sensitive enough to detect the differences between sub- groups, although it is able to differentiate groups that are profoundly different, as also indicated by Roger Wunderlich and Craig Gjerde. 28 If Kolb' s theory holds true, then the ac- commodators in this survey would be the most likely group to find conflicts between their choice of career and their learning styles, and an ideal solution would be to guide their career development more to- ward administration or managerial as- signments. However, the question is open and requires more in-depth study. 696 College & Research Libraries November 1989 TABLE3 COMPARISON OF LEARNING STYLE QUADRANTS BY SPECIALTIES Learning Styles Diver~er Accommodator Assimilator Conver~er Technical services Frequency 11 11 30 21 Percent 7.9 7.9 21.4 15 Public services Frequency 16 10 24 17 Percent 11.4 7.1 17.1 12.1 Total Frequency 27 21 54 38 Percent 19.3 15.0 38.6 27.1 Chi-square = 7.815 (critical); degrees of freedom = 3; p = 0.05. Chi-square = 1.807 (observed) . TABLE4 COMPARISON OF MEAN LSI SCORES BY SPECIALTIES AE CE Technical services X 31.9 23.4 S.D. 8.5 8.6 (N=73) Public services X 31.5 24.6 S.D. 9.1 7.8 (N=67) Total X 31.7 24.0 S.D. 8.8 8.2 (N=140) F 0.13 0.71 N = sample size; X = Mean; S.D. = standard deviation. F = 3.841; degrees of freedom = 1, 137; p = 0.05. What is clear is that academic librarians in technical and public services are similar in terms of the distribution of their learn- ing styles-a finding that contradicts the popular perception of the dichotomy be- tween the groups. Thus, one might safely assume that individuals could probably work well in either speciality, provided that appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitude are acquired and updated. Relationships among Learning Styles and Other Variables As shown in table 5, chi-square tests of learning styles by sex, age group, length of experience, and undergraduate major were performed. Although Kolb found that learning styles differ by sex, age group, and undergraduate major, no sta- Learning Style Scores RO AC 29.7 34.2 7.5 9.4 29.7 32.9 8.2 9.3 29.7 33.6 7.8 9.3 0.00 1.51 AE-RO 2.2 12.6 1.8 15.7 2.0 14.1 0.79 AC-CE 10.9 15.4 8.3 15.3 9.7 15.4 0.06 tistically significant differences were found between the learning styles by gen- der, age group, length of experience, or undergraduate major. 29-30 The data hint, however, that more female respondents (25 percent) tend to have a more divergent learning style than do male respondents (8.3 percent). The data also indicate that as the length of experience increases, the convergent learning style tends to strengthen while the divergent learning · style tends to weaken. Again, it might be that the nature of the profession shapes one's learning style more toward abstract conceptualization and less toward con- crete experience. In other words, the pro- fession seems to demand strengths in ab- stract conceptualization, so an individual librarian's learning style is modified in Research Notes 697 TABLES COMPARISON OF LEARNING STYLE QUADRANTS BY SEX, AGE GROUP, LENGTH OF EXPERIENCE, AND UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS Learning Styles N Diver~er Accommodator Assimilator Conver~er Sex Male 48 4 (8.3%) 9 ~18.8%) 23 (47.9%) 12 (25%) Female 92 23 (25%) 12 13%) 31 (33.7%) 26 (28.3%) Chi-square = 7.005; p = 0.072; 3d. f. Ag~:Moup 13 3 (23.1%) 2 ~15.4%) 5 (38.5%) 3 (23.1%) 30-40 54 9 (16.7%) 7 13%) 21 (38.9%) 17 ~31.5%) 40-50 54 14 (25.9%) 8 ~14.8%) 19 (35.2%) 13 24.1%) >50 19 1 (5.3%) 4 21.1%) 9 (47.4%) 5 (26.3%) Chi-sguare = 5.266; p = 0.811; 9 d. f. Len~h of experience 1- 6v 40 11 (27.5%) 6 (15%) 15 (37.5%) 8 (20%) 5-1 6v 25 4 (16%) 3 (12%) 10 (40%) 8 (32%) 10-5 yr 32 6 (18.8%) 3 (9.4%) 14 (43.8%) 9 (28.1%) > 15 yr 43 6 (13.4%) 9 (20.9%) 15 (34.9%) 13 (30.2%) Chi-s~uare = 5.542; p = 0.785; 9 d. f. Undergra uate major Humanities 101 18 (17.8%~ 18 (17.8%) 37 (36.6%) 28 (27.7%) Social science 31 8 (25.8% 2 (6.5%) 11 (35.5%) 10 (32.3%) Science 7 1 (14.3%) Chi-square = 8.873; p = 0.449; 9 d. f. 1 (14.3%) 5 (71.43%) 0 (0.0%) Oti square - 7.815 (critical); degrees of freedom • 3; p< .05. Oti square - 16.919 (critical); degrees of freedom - 9; p< .05. TABLE6 COMPARISON OF MEAN LSI SCORES BY SEX, AGE GROUP, LENGTH OF EXPERIENCE, AND UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS Learning Style Scores N(%) AE CE RO AC AE-RO AC-CE Sex Male 48 ~34.3) 30.8 24.0 28.4 36.0 2.4 12.0 Female 92 65.7) 32.2 24.0 30.4 32.4 1.8 8.4 F 0.6 0.0 2.2 4.2* 0.1 1.4 Ag~:Moup 13 ( 9.3) 33.7 22.2 30.6 32.8 3.1 10.6 30-40 54 (38.6) 31.8 25.1 28.3 34.0 3.4 9.0 40-50 54 (38.6) 31.5 23.8 30.6 33.2 0.8 9.4 >50 19 (13.6) 30.8 22.3 30.3 34.0 0.6 11.7 F 0.3 5.3* 0.9 0.2 0.3 0.2 Len~h of experience 40 (28.6) 31.3 26.8 29.4 31.5 1.9 4.8 1- 6v 5-1 5v 25 (17.9) 31.4 23.2 27.6 36.8 3.8 13.6 10-1 yr 32 (22.9) 31.8 23.0 29.6 34.4 2.1 11.4 >15yr 43 (30.7) 32.2 22.4 31.2 33.0 1.0 10.6 F 0.2 2.2 1.1 2.0 0.2 2.1 Undergraduate major Humanities 101 (42.1) 31.6 24.1 29.0 34.2 2.6 10.0 Social science 31 (22.1) 33.8 23.4 30.4 32.3 3.4 8.9 Science 7 ( 5.0) 26.4 24.2 36.0 28.7 -9.6 4.9 F 2.2 0.1 2.8 1.5 2.7 0.5 F - 3.841; degrees of freedom - 1, 137; p< .05. *Statistically significant. 698 College & Research Libraries that direction over time. Table 6 is a sum- mary of mean LSI scores by sex, age group, length of experience, and under- gr~duate major. When one-way ANOV A tests were per- formed, the mean score of abstract con- ceptualization varied significantly by sex and the mean score of concrete experience varied significantly among age groups. No significant difference was found be- tween mean LSI scores and length of .ex- perience or undergraduate major. DISCUSSION It is quite common for most professional schools to use some sort of inventory for the purpose of career counseling. And the prerequisite for that is to collect data to identify a predominant cognitive style or November 1989 learning style that typifies the group of practitioners in a field. This study identi- fied the predominant learning style of aca- demic librarians to be the assimilative learning style, followed by the convergent learning style. The study also showed that academic librarians in public and technical services have similar learning style prefer- ences. However, since several aspects of the study contradict Kolb' s generaliza- tions, further in-depth examination of the sensitivity of the LSI is needed. Until then, Kolb' s theoretical construct and the LSI seem to have limited practical implica- tion due to their failure to discriminate fac- tors involved in career choice and devel- opment and their lack of explanatory power. REFERENCES 1. Gregor A. Preston, "How Will Automation Affect Cataloging Staff?" Technical Services Quarterly 1:U9-36 (1983). 2. Maurice J. Freedman, "Automation and the Future of Technical Services," Library Journal 109:1197-203 Uune 1984). 3. Thomas W. Shaughnessy, "Technology and the Structure of Libraries," Libri 32:149-55 (1982). 4. Susan K. Martin, "The Impact of Technology on Libraries and Librarians: A Literature Review," in The Infonnation Society: Issues and Answers, ed. E. J. Josey (Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx, 1978), p.116. 5. Patricia G. Schuman, "Library Networks: A Means, Not an End," Library Journal112:33-37 (Feb. 1987). 6. Tefko Seracevic and Paul Kantor, II A Study of Information Seeking and Retrieving. m. Searchers, Searches and Overlap," Journal of the American Society for Infonnation Science 39:197-216 (1988). 7. Christin L. Borgman, ''Individual Differences in the Use of Information Retrieval Systems: A Pilot Study,'' Proceedings of the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Infonnation Science (Med- ford, N.J.: Learned Information, 1986), p.20-31. 8. Trudi Bellardo, ''An Investigation of Online Searcher Traits and Their Relationship to Search Out- come," Journal of the American Society for Infonnation Science 36:241-50 (1985). 9. J. Elkerton and R. C. Williges, "Evaluation of Expertise in a File Search Environment," Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 27th Annual Meeting, ed. A. T. Pope and L. D. Haugh (Santa Monica, Calif.: Human Factors Society, 1983), p.521-25. 10. S. Sitton and G. Chmelir, "The Intuitive Computer Programmer," Datamation 30:137-41 (1985). 11. N. N. Woelfl, "Individual Differences in Online Search Behavior: The Effect of Learning Styles and Cognitive Abilities on Process and Outcome" (Ph.D. diss., Case Western Univ., Oeveland, Ohio, 1984). U. B. L. Stein and others, "Understanding Preferred Cognitive Styles-A Tool for Facilitating Better Communication," Journal of Education for Library and Infonnation Science 27:38-43 (1983). 13. B. L. Stein and H. L. Totten, "Cognitive Styles: Similarities among Students," Journal of Education for Librarianship 24:38-49 (1983). 14. S. J. Mcintire and C. L. Mcintire, "A Career Counseling Model Based on Cognitive Style Assess- ment," Journal of Education for Librarianship 20:198-210 (1980). 15. D. H. Jonassen and G. G. Hodges, "Student Cognitive Styles: Implications for Library Educa- tors," Journal of Education for Librarianship 22:143-53 (1982). 16. Kerry A. Johnson and Marilyn D. White, "The Field Dependence/Field Independence oflnforma- tion Professional Students," Library Research 3:355-69 (1981). 17. Jana Varlejs, "Learning Styles of Librarians and Satisfaction with Continuing Education Activi- Research Notes 699 ties: Looking for a Match," in Continuing Education: Issues and Challenges, ed. Esther E. Horne (New York: Saur, 1985), p.131-39. 18. David A. Kolb, Experiential Learning Theory: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1984). 19. David A. Kolb, "Management and the Learning Process," California Management Review 18:21-31 (1976) . 20. David A. Kolb and MarkS . Plovnik, "The Experiential Theory of Career Development," in Orga- nizational Careers: Some New Perspectives, ed. John VanMaanen (Chichester: Wiley, 1978), p.65-87. 21. David A. Kolb, The Learning Style Inventory, rev. ed. (Boston: McBer & Co., 1985). 22. David A. Kolb, Learning Style Inventory: Self-scoring Inventory and Interpretation Booklet (Boston: McBer & Co., 1985). 23. David A. Kolb, Learning Style Inventory 1985: Technical Specifications (Boston: McBer & Co., 1985). 24. Kolb, Learning Style Inventory: Self-scoring Inventory and Interpretation Booklet, p.7. 25. Kolb and Plovnik, "The Experiential Theory of Career Development." 26. Georgia R. Sadler and others, "Learning Styles and Teaching Implications," Journal of Medical Education 53:847-49 (1978). 27. Mark Plovnick, "Primary Care Career Choices and Medical Student Learning Styles," Journal of Medical Education 50:849-55 (1975). 28. Roger Wunderlich and Craig L. Gjerde, "Another Look at Learning Style Inventory and Medical Career Choice," Journal of Medical Education 53:45-54 (1978). 29. Kolb, Experiential Learning Theory. 30. Kolb, Learning Style Inventory 1985: Technical Specifications . 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