Measurement of library Anxiety among Students of Literature and Humanities College in Qom University according to the Bostick's Library Anxiety Scale

Subject Areas : Journal of Information Systems and Services

Davood Asgharpour Mehrabani ¹ (M.A. of Knowledge and Information Science, Hamadan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Head of Librarianship Department Research Institute of Hawzah and University)
Mohammad Sajedi ² (M.A. of Knowledge and Information Science, Hamadan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Head of the Department of Information and Documentation Research Institute of Hawzah and University)

Received: 2013-08-11 Accepted : 2013-12-09 Published : 2013-12-21

Keywords: Academic libraries, Academic library users, Bostick's Library Anxiety Scal, Library anxiety, Literature and Humanities Coll,

Abstract :

Purpose: This research examined library anxiety among students of Literature and Humanities college in Qom University and compared it in the following categories: Gender, education level (graduate and post-graduate), major (LIS and non-LIS) and the use and the lack of library use  prior to entering the university. Method: The sample included  225 students.The research instrument was a refined version of the Bostick's original library anxiety scale including 35 statements. Frequency distribution and independent t-test were used in order to analyze the data. Findings: Findings indicated that the total mean of library anxiety in the researched group was 88.76. The results of the independent t-test showed that library anxiety scores were higher in women than men students and in the non-LIS major students were significantly higher than in LIS. However, the mean anxiety scores were not significantly different in students who had benefitted the library prior to entering the university and those who had not. There was no significant difference in the varios educational levels. Furthermore, this significance was only associated with physical barriers and no significant difference was reported in other factors affecting the library anxiety. Conclusion: Studying library anxiety is important because the students need to use the library for selecting research subjects, and gathering data for doing their studies and conducting their dissertations. Library anxiety can have negative effect on their educational performance and quantity and quality of their scientific productions.

References:

خدیوی، شهناز (1383). مروری بر اضطراب کتابخانه‌ای در کتابخانه‌های دانشگاهی. فصلنامه کتاب، 57 (دوره 15، شماره اول): 109-114.

رفیعی مقدم، فریده؛ جعفری مفرد طاهری، الهه (1391). بررسی میزان اضطراب کتابخانه‌ای دانشجویان دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد تهران شمال ورودی سال 89 – 90.فصلنامه دانش‌شناسی، 16 (دوره 5): 61-71.

عرفان منش، محمدامین؛ بصیریان جهرمی، رضا (1390).مطالعه تأثیر آموزش مهارت‌های کتابخانه‌ای و تورهای آشنایی با کتابخانه بر اضطراب کتابخانه‌ای دانشجویان. فصلنامه دانش‌شناسی، 15 (دوره 4): 43-52.

عرفان منش، محمدامین؛ دیدگاه، فرشته (1390). اضطراب کتابخانه‌ای، چالشی فرا روی استفاده مؤثر از خدمات کتابخانه‌ای. کتاب ماه کلیات، 162 (سال چهاردهم): 43–54.

عرفان منش، محمدامین؛ محمدی، مهدی و دیدگاه، فرشته (1392). اضطراب کتابخانه‌ای در میان دانشجویان دانشکده علوم تربیتی و روان‌شناسی دانشگاه شیراز برمبنای ویژگی‌های زمینه‌ای. فصلنامه مطالعات ملی کتابداری و سازمان‌دهی اطلاعات.

کومار، کریشان (1374). روش‌های پژوهش در کتابداری و اطلاع‌رسانی. ترجمه فاطمه رها­دوست. تهران: کتابخانه ملی جمهوری اسلامی ایران.

موکهرجی، اجیت کومار (1382). تاریخ و فلسفه کتابداری. ترجمه اسدالله آزاد. تهران: کتابدار.

Bostick, S. L. (1992). The development and validation of the library anxiety scale. (Doctoral dissertation, Wayne State University).

Erfanmanesh, Mohammad Amin, A. Abrizah and Noor Harun Abdul Karim. (2012). Development and validation of the information seeking anxiety scale. Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science,17 (1): 21-39.

Jiao, Q. G., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Waytowich, V. L. (2008). The relationship between citation errors and library anxiety: An empirical study of doctoral students in education. Information Processing & Management,44(2), 948-956.

Mellon, C. A. (1986).Library anxiety: A grounded theory and its development.College & Research Libraries,47(2), 160-165.

Swope, M. J., & Katzer, J. (1972).The silent majority: Why don't they ask questions? RQ, 161-166.