Foreign Students and U.S. Academic Libraries: A Case Study of Foreign Students and Libraries in Two Universities in New Orleans, Louisiana

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Library Science

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Sarkodie-Mensah, Kwasi

Contributors dc:contributor

• Weech, Terry L.
• Auld, Lawrence W.S.

• Library Science

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8908823

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/69501