Levels Of Library Anxiety Research Articles

Undergraduate Students with Strong Tendencies Towards Critical Thinking Experience Less Library Anxiety

A Review of:
 Kwon, Nahyun. “A Mixed-Methods Investigation of the Relationship between Critical Thinking and Library Anxiety among Undergraduate Students in their Information Search Process.” College & Research Libraries 69.2 (2008): 117-31.
 
 Objective – To investigate the nature of the association between a student’s critical thinking disposition and the extent to which they suffer from library anxiety.
 
 Design – Standardized quantitative survey instruments and a qualitative content analysis of student essays.
 
 Setting – A state (publically funded) research university located in the southeast United States.
 
 Subjects – 137 undergraduate students enrolled in the Library and Research Skills course.
 
 Methods – Undergraduate students enrolled in the three-credit course Library and Research Skills during the spring 2006 semester were invited to participate in the study. Of 180 students registered in the course, 137 volunteered to take part. Data collection took place in the first two weeks of the semester. 
 
 Participants were asked to complete two standardized survey instruments: the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) and the Library Anxiety Scale (LAS). The purpose of the CCTDI is to “measure a person’s disposition to use critical thinking” (119). The instrument consists of seven scales: “truth-seeking”; “open-mindedness”; “analyticity”; “systematicity”; “critical thinking self-confidence”; “inquisitiveness”; and “maturity” (119). “Truth-seeking” is a commitment to seeking answers even if the process proves difficult or reveals information outside of one’s belief system, “systematicity” is defined as an organized approach to problem solving, and “maturity” is the ability to make “reflective decisions when facing ill-structured problem situations” (119). “Analyticity” refers to a subject’s ability to anticipate possible outcomes, “open-mindedness” to being open to different points of view, “critical thinking self- confidence” to a belief in one’s own critical thinking skills, and “inquisitiveness” to “intellectual curiosity” (119). Participants scored 75 items using a six-point Likert-type scale. 
 
 The LAS measures levels of library anxiety by asking students to respond to 43 statements using a five-point point Likert-type scale. The LAS is designed to identify perceived roadblocks to their students’ use of the library, including “barriers with staff” or staff who are not helpful, “affective barriers” or a lack of confidence in one’s research skills, “comfort with the library,” “knowledge of the library,” and “mechanical barriers” such as equipment that is difficult to use (119).
 
 In addition, participants were asked to write a 500-1,000 word essay about their “most recent or most memorable experience of using the library and its resources to write a research a paper” (120). Quantitative data collected from the CCTDI and LAS was analyzed using statistical software and the content of the qualitative data generated by the student essays was analyzed to identify common critical thinking and library anxiety themes.
 
 Main Results – Only a small percentage (6%) of participants in the study were freshman (i.e., in their first year of study). The largest group was comprised of third year students or juniors (41.8%), followed by sophomores (27.6%) and seniors (21.6%). The participants ranged in age from 18 to 60, with an average age of 22.9 years. Over 68% percent were female.
 
 Overall, a higher percentage of study participants scored lower on the CCTDI across all seven scales than a normative sample of undergraduate students. A score below 40 on a particular scale is considered by the instrument developers to be an indication of weakness in that particular dimension of critical thinking. The participants’ mean score for each of the seven scales fell below this threshold. Areas of particular weakness were truth-seeking (82% of students scored below 40), systematicity (63% scored below 40), and maturity (55% below 40).
 
 The researcher ranked the students by their total CCTDI scores, and then divided the subjects into three equal groups. The 37 students with the highest overall CCTDI scores were labelled the strong critical thinking dispositions (CTD) group. The 37 students with the lowest overall CCTDI scores formed the weak CTD group. The mean LAS scores of participants in each group were then compared. A higher LAS score is indicative of a higher level of library anxiety. Students with strong CTD demonstrated significantly less library anxiety than those with weak critical thinking dispositions (an overall mean score of 93.03 versus 111.13). When it came to the five dimensions of library anxiety, the difference in the mean scores between the two groups was greatest for staff barriers (30.88 for participants with strong CTD versus 38.20 for those weak CTD) and affective barriers (27.24 versus 32.94). The difference in scores for anxiety arising from mechanical barriers was lower (0.83), but still statistically significant (p

Role of library anxiety on cooperative group performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent that cooperative group members' levels of library anxiety, operationalized as barriers with staff, affective barriers, comfort with the library, knowledge of the library and mechanical barriers, predict: group performance, namely, the quality of an article critique assignment and research proposal assignment; and the degree that heterogeneity (namely, variability of the five library anxiety dimensions) is related to this outcome variable.Design/methodology/approachParticipants were 107 postgraduate students enrolled in a research methodology course at a mid‐southern university in the USA. Groups (n = 1) formed the unit of analysis. An all possible subsets multiple regression analysis was used to identify an optimal combination of library anxiety variables that predicted the group performance score.FindingsIt was found that cooperative learning groups attaining the lowest scores on the article critique and research proposal assignments combined tended to report the least variation with respect to barriers with staff and knowledge of the library, and the greatest variation with respect to affective barriers. These variables explained 41.8 per cent of the variance in performance, suggesting that library anxiety plays a role in the cooperative learning group process.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on a relatively small sample of postgraduate students from one university. Replications of this study with larger samples from different universities are needed to help validate the findings.Practical implicationsThe findings may help academic librarians and educators who work with postgraduate or adult students better understand the debilitating effects of library anxiety on these students' academic performance.Originality/valueTo date, no research has investigated levels of library anxiety on the performance of cooperative learning groups.

The relationship between citation errors and library anxiety: An empirical study of doctoral students in education

The present study investigated whether levels of library anxiety predict simultaneously the citation error rate and quality of reference lists in doctoral dissertation proposals among 93 doctoral students in education. This study was unique for at least two reasons. First, it was one of the first studies to examine bibliographic citation inaccuracies in doctoral research proposals. Second, the current investigation was one of the first to investigate the psychological characteristics of doctoral students who commit such errors. A canonical correlation analysis revealed a multivariate relationship between levels of library anxiety and both the citation error rate and quality of reference lists. This finding suggests that level of library anxiety plays an important role in students’ ability to construct accurate reference lists. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Critical Thinking Disposition and Library Anxiety: Affective Domains on the Space of Information Seeking and Use in Academic Libraries

Because both critical thinking and library anxiety have been found to play an important role in determining learning outcomes, it is possible that these two constructs are related in some way. To date, however, this link has not been empirically examined. In the present study, we have attempted to identify the nature of the association between critical thinking disposition and library anxiety among 170 graduate students. Findings revealed a negative multivariate relationship between these two sets of affective variables. Specifically, weak dispositions toward critical thinking were associated with high levels of library anxiety. Implications of the findings were discussed with respect to the approach to teaching information literacy in academic libraries.

There is a Significant Relationship Between Computer Attitudes and Library Anxiety Among African American Graduate Students

Objective – To investigate whether African American students’ computer attitudes predict levels of library anxiety.
 
 Design – A user study in which two instruments were administered to a group of graduate students to measure computer attitudes and library anxiety.
 
 Setting – The College of Education at an historically black college and university in the United States of America.
 
 Subjects – Ninety-four, predominantly female, African American graduate students, ranging in age from 22-62 years old, and enrolled in either a statistics or a measurement course. 
 
 Methods – Two instruments, the Computer Attitude Scale (CAS) and the Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) were administered to all the study participants. The Computer Anxiety Scale contains forty Likert-type items that assess individuals’ attitudes toward computers and their use. It includes four scales which can be administered separately:
 
 1. Anxiety or fear of computers
 2. Confidence in the ability to use computers
 3. Liking or enjoying working with computers
 4. Computer usefulness
 
 The LAS contains forty-three, 5-point, Likert-format items that assess levels of library anxiety experienced by college students. It also has five subscales as follows:
 
 1. Barriers with staff
 2. Affective barriers
 3. Comfort with the library
 4. Knowledge of the library
 5. Mechanical barriers
 
 Main results – There were twenty correlations between the library anxiety subscale scores and the computer attitude subscale scores. Four of these correlations were statistically significant. Liking or enjoying working with computers was statistically significantly linked to affective barriers, comfort with the library, and knowledge of the library. There was also a statistically significant association between an attitude of computer usefulness and knowledge of the library.
 
 Conclusion – These findings suggest that in this group of students there is a medium to strong relationship between computer attitudes and library anxiety.

The relationship between race and library anxiety among graduate students: A replication study

Despite the large volume of literature on racial differences in academic performance between African Americans and Caucasian Americans at various educational levels, there has been a dearth of research examining whether the academic library experience is an important variable that helps explain the racial differences observed in educational outcomes. To date, only one empirical study has examined the racial differences in library anxiety among college students. Specifically, Jiao et al. [Jiao, Q. G., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Bostick, S. L. (2004). Racial differences in library anxiety among graduate students. Library Review, 53(4), 228–235] found that African-American graduate students reported statistically significantly lower levels of library anxiety associated with three library anxiety dimensions than did their Caucasian-American counterparts. However, because the two racial groups selected for the study differed in the types of institution they attended, the researchers were unable to conclude whether the differences found in the library anxiety levels were the result of race or the groups’ educational experience/aptitude. Therefore, the present study replicated Jiao et al.’s earlier research while addressing this concern. Findings revealed that the African-American graduate students (n = 25) reported consistently lower levels across all five dimensions of library anxiety than did the Caucasian-American graduate students (n = 155). These two studies suggest that racial differences in library anxiety exist in the college student population.

Racial differences in library anxiety among graduate students

This study compared the five subscale scores and total scale scores of the Library Anxiety Scale from 135 Caucasian‐American and 45 African‐American graduate students. Findings indicated that the Caucasian‐American sample reported significantly higher levels of library anxiety associated with three of the five subscales than did the African‐American sample. A canonical discriminant analysis also revealed significant differences between the two racial groups, with Caucasian‐American graduate students reporting significantly higher levels of library anxiety associated with the same three subscales than their African‐American counterparts. These findings suggest that race appears to be a predictor of library anxiety levels. The implications of the findings on academic library services and future research are discussed.

Use of Bostick's Library Anxiety Scale on undergraduate biological sciences students of Kuwait University

A modified version of the Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) consisting of 34 statements, originally developed by Bostick in 1992 [Bostick, S. L. (1992). The development and validation of the Library Anxiety Scale. PhD dissertation, Wayne State University] using American students, was administered to 145 undergraduate biological sciences students in Kuwait to test its suitability for a culturally different population. Factor analysis was used to determine the appropriate number of factors and statement groupings in each of these factors. It was found that the factor groupings of the present study vary considerably from those of Bostick's suggesting that the LAS, in its present form was designed using American students and is not suitable for a different cultural group. The findings of this study suggest that gender and school library use do not have any significant relationship with library anxiety in the Kuwaiti population. The language of instruction in school and school library use does affect one of the four factors of library anxiety. More research on diverse populations is needed to test the suitability of the LAS further. The study also proposes a quantitative measure for determining the levels of library anxiety in terms of no anxiety, low anxiety, mild anxiety, moderate anxiety, and severe anxiety.

Development and Validation of the Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale

This article reports on the development and validation of the Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale, which was designed to assess six dimensions of an individual’s perception of an academic library and the information search process (ISP). A two-part study was undertaken for the development of the instrument. In part one, twenty-one participants completed a pilot questionnaire that assisted the researcher in developing the instrument. In part two, 278 participants completed a revised questionnaire consisting of a 54-item Likert-type scale that assessed levels of library anxiety experienced by students enrolled in a doctoral degree–granting program at an urban southeastern university.

Use of Bostick's Library Anxiety Scale on undergraduate biological sciences students of Kuwait University

A modified version of the Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) consisting of 34 statements, originally developed by Bostick in 1992 [Bostick, S. L. (1992). The development and validation of the Library Anxiety Scale. PhD dissertation, Wayne State University] using American students, was administered to 145 undergraduate biological sciences students in Kuwait to test its suitability for a culturally different population. Factor analysis was used to determine the appropriate number of factors and statement groupings in each of these factors. It was found that the factor groupings of the present study vary considerably from those of Bostick's suggesting that the LAS, in its present form was designed using American students and is not suitable for a different cultural group. The findings of this study suggest that gender and school library use do not have any significant relationship with library anxiety in the Kuwaiti population. The language of instruction in school and school library use does affect one of the four factors of library anxiety. More research on diverse populations is needed to test the suitability of the LAS further. The study also proposes a quantitative measure for determining the levels of library anxiety in terms of no anxiety, low anxiety, mild anxiety, moderate anxiety, and severe anxiety.

Off-campus adult learners' levels of library anxiety as a predictor of attitudes toward the Internet

This study assesses what factors associated with library anxiety predict off-campus adult learners' attitudes toward the educational use of the Internet. Off-campus adult learners were graduate students attending classes at a distance of 50 or more miles from their home institution's library. Two factors associated with library anxiety, knowledge of the library and affective barriers, yielded a multiple R of .30, accounting for 9 percent of the variance in respondents' attitudes toward the Internet. Findings indicate that off-campus adult learners' perceptions of their information retrieval skills impact their anxiety levels while utilizing library and Internet resources. Findings suggest the benefit of including information in library tutorials about accessing databases and hands-on computer instruction to elevate adult learners' perceptions of their competency.

The Relationship Between Library Anxiety and Off-Campus Adult Learners

The focus of this research is to assess the level of library anxiety of off-campus adult learners (n = 143) enrolled in a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Education program offered at various off-campus locations. The off-campus adult learner's level of library anxiety will be accessed using the LAS (Library Anxiety Scale, Bostick, 1992). Also examined will be the degree that the following variables impact the library anxiety level of off-campus adult learners: age, gender, previous library instruction, physical distance from an academic library, length of time available to research the topic, and access to materials. A small statistically significant relationship was found between composite library anxiety score and the variable amount of time available. Descriptive data pertaining to age and gender was consistent to the extant research.

Dimensions of library anxiety and social interdependence: implications for library services

The present study examined the relationship between library anxiety and social interdependence. Participants were 115 graduate students from various disciplines who were administered the Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) and the Social Interdependence Scale (SIS). The LAS assesses levels of library anxiety. The SIS measures individuals’ cooperative, competitive, and individualistic perceptions. The higher the score on each of the three SIS subscales, the more cooperative, the more competitive, or the more individualistic the respondents consider themselves to be. Scores on these scales are relatively independent so that a student could conceivably receive a high score on all three scales. A canonical correlation analysis (Rc = 0.41) revealed that cooperative attitudes were related significantly to barriers with staff, comfort with the library, and knowledge of the library. Individualistic attitudes, affective barriers, and mechanical barriers served as suppressor variables. Implications are discussed.

Library anxiety and characteristic strengths and weaknesses of graduate students’ study habits

This study was conducted to identify graduate students’ predominant study habit strengths and weaknesses as well as to examine empirically the relationship between specific study habits and library anxiety. Participants were 133 graduate students in the field of education at a university in the southeast of the USA. These individuals were administered the study habits inventory (SHI) and the library anxiety scale (LAS). Findings revealed that students’ responses to 62.9 per cent of the 63 study habit statements in the SHI were indicative of appropriate study habits. Study habit weaknesses were identified in the areas of note‐taking and reading skills. An all possible subsets multiple regression analysis led to the identification of eight specific study behaviours that predicted levels of library anxiety. These study habits explained 45.8 per cent of the variance in library anxiety, which, using Cohen’s criteria, represents a large effect size. Implications for library anxiety reduction as a study habits intervention are discussed.

Perfectionism and library anxiety among graduate students

This study investigates the relationship between three dimensions of perfectionism and five dimensions of library anxiety among graduate students. Students who maintain a perceived need to live up to the standards and expectations prescribed by other individuals tend to have higher levels of library anxiety.

The relationship between library anxiety and learning styles among graduate students: Implications for library instruction

Because library anxiety can be an impediment to academic achievement among graduate students, this study determines the characteristics of this anxiety. Specifically, the relationship between learning style and library anxiety was investigated. A setwise multiple regression analysis revealed that students with the highest levels of library anxiety tend be those who like structure, who are self-motivated, who lack persistence, and who are peer-oriented learners. In addition, they tend to prefer to receive information via the visual mode, but not via either tactile or kinesthetic modes. Finally, these students tend to require mobility in learning environments and do not prefer to undertake difficult tasks in the afternoon. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Prevalence and reasons for university library usage

Reports on a study of 522 university students, undertaken to determine how often they used their library and why, as well as to develop a general profile of college student library users. Descriptive statistics revealed that the majority of students used the library at least once a week. Obtaining a book or an article for a course paper was the most common reason cited for library use, followed by studying for a test, and then using the computerized indexes and online facilities. A setwise multiple regression analysis reveals that students who used the libraries most tended to be older, male, those who did not speak English as their native language, who lived the nearest to the academic library, who preferred to study alone, and who had the lowest levels of library anxiety. In addition, these students tended to visit the library to study for a test, to read current newspapers, to read their own textbook, to use computerized indexes and online facilities, or to meet friends. Discusses the implications of these findings and makes recommendations for future research.

Academic library usage: a comparison of native and non-native English-speaking students

A study was undertaken to compare native and non-native English-speaking university students with respect to how often they used their library and why, as well as to determine which group of students had the highest levels of library anxiety.

Library anxiety: Characteristics of ‘at-risk’ college students

Library anxiety is a psychological barrier to academic success among college students. This study of 493 university students examined factors which predict library anxiety. A setwise multiple regression analysis revealed that eight variables (age, sex, year of study, native language, grade point average, employment status, frequency of library visits, and reason for using the library) contributed significantly to the prediction of library anxiety. Analysis of variance, which included trend analysis, revealed that freshmen reported the highest level of library anxiety, and that this level declined linearly as a function of year of study. Based on these findings, both librarians and teaching faculty should be aware of the characteristics of high-anxious students, and increase the availability of anxiety-reducing interventions for students.