WORK SAMPLING - THE APPLICATION OF AN INDUSTRIAL-RESEARCH TECHNIQUE TO SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA CENTERS

Work sampling is a research technique where workers are observed at ra ndom times and their activities recorded. The data collected can be co nverted to percentages indicating the overall distribution of how thei r time is spent in various categories. This methodology, commonly used in industry, has had limited applications in library settings. A back ground of work sampling, its history in libraries, and the planning an d implementation of a school library media study is discussed here.