Presenting the Dissertation "Gift of the Gab: Exploring the Audiobook and the Festive Direction in the American Library"

At 25,000 words and 112 pages, I present my dissertation to the world. Click on the link below and then scroll down to read a PDF version either in your browser or as a download.

Gift of the Gab Word Cloud

Courtesy of WordItOut

A few points in my research caught me by surprise:

For instance, did you know that audio literature and the spoken word has a clear connection to Catholic scholarship?

Orality and Literacy
by the late, great Father Walter Ong, S.J.

Did you also know that one of most successful "talking books" record labels, Caedmon Records, was founded by two young female graduates of Hunter College in New York? And that this didn't happen in the Mad Men era, but eight years before, in 1952!?

Providence Athenaeum Interior in 2012
Photo Credit: Kenneth C. Zirkel

Did you also know that podcasts and audiobooks have a piggyback effect? If you listen to podcasts, you're more willing to "read" audiobooks? And that this may have implications for the reading gap between boys and girls?

To read the dissertation in its entirety, please visit https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:34107/

Dissertation Finished! Read the Abstract Here

The baby has been delivered.

On Friday 8th January, I was able to submit my dissertation for the master's library science program at City, University London. At 112 pages and over 24,000 words, "Gift of the Gab" took me nine months to write. The research from this pandemic project gave me a locus of control over the darkest days of 2020.

Angel of the Annunciation by Titian. Archangel Gabriel is considered the protector of all communicators. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

I may seek to get it published first before displaying as an accessible document on my portfolio page. In the meantime, individual copies can be emailed to those who wish to read it privately and in good faith. Simply notify me with your email address and I'll send it along.

The abstract, or official summary, is below.

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Dissertation Title: Gift of the Gab: Exploring the Audiobook and the Festive Direction in the American Library

Abstract

The audiobook, in its modern form, was created in the 1930s to assist the blind community, World War I veterans and others unable to engage in Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). This dissertation investigates exactly how the audiobook and, to a lesser extent, the podcast have been received and celebrated by the world of library and information science (LIS). ​Original to this dissertation are the concepts of a festive direction a​nd a ​clinical direction in LIS which have shaped the collections of the American library. This alternative history of library science also explores how the fractured development of Christianity played a surprising role in shaping audio literature.

Underpinning this research is a survey of how American public and membership libraries are leveraging the audiobook and the podcast in order to diversify their services. Other prosocial actions are assessed in the institutional quest to attract and maintain patronage. This research will benefit library managers and catalogers in the American library who are attempting to ​speak​ to new demographics.

Another Dylan Thomas title on the Caedmon label. 

Public Domain, via Creative Commons.