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| Format: | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
1974
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED105880 |
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Table of Contents:
- The Effects of the 1973 Supreme Court Obscenity Ruling on the Public Library; A Survey. Wenglin, Barbara Nedell Censorship Community Attitudes Court Doctrine Formative Evaluation Library Material Selection Library Research Library Surveys Public Libraries Questionnaires Research Methodology Sampling Supreme Court Litigation In June, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down five decisions which significantly altered the legal definition of obscenity, placing greater emphasis on local community standards for judging a work obscene. A survey of public libraries was conducted in 1974 to determine if these decisions had resulted in an increase in community censorship of library materials. Since the size of the community might prove significant in its response to the Court ruling, the public libraries in each state were sorted into three groups by size of population served. One library of each size group (if applicable) in each state was then selected at random, for a total of 133. A ten-item questionnaire was constructed, and the instrument's reliability and validity was tested with a trial mailing in February, 1974 to the American Library Association and five sample libraries. The final mailing, in April 1974, elicited 115 responses, an 86 percent return rate. The responses were analyzed by geographic region and community size. Of the 115, 108 reported no change in patron concern about library materials or about specific titles since the Supreme Court ruling. Survey materials are included. (SL)