Abstract:
The provision of web-based library resources to children in New
Zealand libraries has increased dramatically in the last ten years. This
research investigates the identification and management of bias in web-based
information resources provided to New Zealand children by lower North
Island public libraries. It attempts to examine the decision-making process by
which librarians select web-based information resources for children, identify
how librarians define and identify bias as well as how or if they mange it, to
examine the impact that the presence of bias has on the selection of web-based
resources, to identify the extent to which librarians are guided by an
institutional policy in their selection of web-based resources, and to determine
what criteria for selection of web-based resources for children are being used.
Decision-making theory provided the framework for this research. The
target population were librarians responsible for the selection of web-based
resources for children, employed in public libraries in the lower North Island
that provided web-based information resources for children, with eight
librarians interviewed. Analysis of the results showed that librarians
evidenced a clear understanding of what bias was, and identified bias in webbased
information resources, but displayed little consensus as to the methods
and extent of the management of this bias. Diverse decision-making processes
and use of selection criteria was also identified.
