Placing Green IT awareness and practices among universities’ librarians: A NAT perspective

Abstract

This study aimed to measure the level of green computing (GC) awareness and adoption among university librarians. Norm-Activation Theory (NAT) was employed to define the relationship between librarians' intention and pro-environmental GC adoption within library settings. A quantitative research design was employed with a questionnaire. Convenience sampling was utilized, resulting in a total of 132 usable responses that were analyzed by SEM. The findings provide important preliminary insights into understanding the most significant factors that determined librarians' intentions towards GC acceptance. The model of GC adoption explained factors that encourage individual librarians to adopt GC practices for environmental sustainability.The PLS-SEM results revealed that the association between awareness of consequences and personal norms was the strongest, with personal norms being the most influential determinant of GC adoption. Notably, library environmental concerns had no significant effect on GC. Moreover, a salient role for personal norms in predicting GC emerged. The study's results support the proposed theoretical framework, including the associations among the study variables.Importantly, both public and private sector librarians indicate the absence of a written policy regarding computing equipment in their libraries. Library associations should strengthen the saliency of librarians' personal norms and raise awareness of IT environmental problems and libraries roles. Generally, respondents acknowledged their awareness of e-waste. The results demonstrated that the majority of respondents believed that practicing GC could lead to cost savings for their respective institutions. However, the majority do not consider that GC practices could help reduce local ecological damage; cost savings are their main concern. Policymakers can implement new technologies to reduce environmental problems by improving computing performance.