Library anxiety among undergraduates in Nigeria
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-03-2021-0048 |
| Published date | 01 February 2022 |
| Date | 01 February 2022 |
| Pages | 408-423 |
| Author | Christy Olabisi Adeeko,Airen Adetimirin |
Library anxiety among
undergraduates in Nigeria
Christy Olabisi Adeeko
Department of Library,
Gateway (ICT) Polytechnic Saapade Remo, Remo, Nigeria, and
Airen Adetimirin
Department of Library, Archival and Information Studies,
Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose –Library anxiety is a phenomenon that is different from other academic anxiety, which has
implication on physical use of libraries. This study aims to investigate the phenomenon of library anxiety
among undergraduatesin federal universities in North-central,Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach –Descriptive survey of the correlational type was adopted for
the study. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting five conventional federal universities,three
homogenous faculties and six departments through multistage sampling technique. Five percent of the
undergraduates (797) were selected from a total sample of 15,933. The instrument used was measuring
scale on library anxiety(MSLA) developed by Bostick (1992). Descriptive statisticssuch as percentage mean
and standarddeviation were used to analyse the researchquestions.
Findings –The findings revealed thatmajority of the undergraduates (85.0%) experienced moderate level
of library anxiety acrossthe universities at varying degree. The most prevalent aspectof the library anxiety
experiencedby the undergraduates was inadequate knowledge of the library(x. = 2.14).
Research limitations/implications –The study selectedfive conventional universities out of the seven
federal universitiesin North-central, Nigeria.
Originality/value –Based on the findings, the study recommends libraryorientation programme for the
undergraduates to increase their knowledge of the library. Likewise, the library staff should be more
approachableand friendly so as to alleviate the library anxiety experiencedby the undergraduates.
Keywords Library anxiety, Affective barrier, Barrier with staff, Comfort with the library,
Knowledge of the library, Mechanical barrier
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Library anxiety refers to fear, negative feeling or emotional disposition, which may be
experience by patrons in a library environment.Library anxiety is the fear and undesirable
feelings when using or preparing to use the library and alsowhen thinking about using the
library. Invariably, library anxiety entails undesirable emotional signs, for instance fear,
apprehension, insecurity, deficiency of skill and efficacy, lonesomeness and trepidation.
There are some symptoms of library anxiety exhibitedby undergraduates, these are: being
flabbergasted by the bigness of the library, inability to conduct meaningful library search
and inability to understand how thelibrary is structured. Feelings of insufficiency and fear
of asking for assistance are also symptoms of library anxiety exhibited by the
undergraduates(Efranmanesh, 2011).
There are five elements of library anxiety: affective barrier, barrier with staff, comfort
with the library, knowledge of the library and mechanical barrier. Affective barrier is the
GKMC
72,4/5
408
Received16 March 2021
Revised4 September 2021
12November 2021
Accepted15 December 2021
GlobalKnowledge, Memory and
Communication
Vol.72 No. 4/5, 2023
pp. 408-423
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9342
DOI 10.1108/GKMC-03-2021-0048
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2514-9342.htm
aspect of library anxiety encountered by students when they have erroneous perception
about their abilities to conduct research effectively, and they also think they lack library
skills. Barrierswith staff are the aspect of library anxiety that has to dowith the relationship
between the patrons and the librarians which is the perception of the students about the
library personnel. Most often than not, the students have the perception that the librarians
are not approachable, and they are too busy to renderany assistance to them. Comfort with
the library is that aspect of library anxiety emanating from feelings of being unwanted,
vulnerable and not comfortable within the library settings. Knowledge of the library is
related to students’inability to use the library effectively, inability to find the information
materials needed and how information materials are arranged in the library. Mechanical
barrier is related to the library anxiety encountered by the students due to emergence and
application of new technologyin the library (Abusin et al.,2011).
When undergraduates make use of library services, they may experience different levels
of adverse feelings of fear, tension and nervousness. Some factors are responsible for
unwillingnesson the part of the undergraduatesto use their universitylibraries; these factors
are the size of the building, the gargantuan bulk of information resources, availability of
recent technology in modern-day libraries, deficiency of necessary skills needed for library
search and the aloofness of the librarians (Mellon, 1986). Efranmanesh (2011) asserted that
library anxiety is a common thing among library users especially undergraduates. Library
anxiety will make the undergraduates not to feel at ease or comfortable in the library as a
result they are likely to show unwillingness in using the library, while some mayeventually
leave the librarybefore they could get the needed information. Ansari (2009)also stated that
library anxiety is an emotional obstacle to excellent academic achievement among
undergraduatesthat hampers the maximum use of librarymaterials and services. It is a type
of academic anxiety that is encountered by most of undergraduates who need to use the
library during the course of their study. Library anxiety is one of the factors militating
against library use by the undergraduates. Undergraduates perceived the university library
as intimidatingand research processesdaunting. This propels themto ultimately experiment
with differentresearch techniques that restricttheir capabilities of meeting theirinformation
requirementsinstead of asking for helpfrom the library.
Against this background this study intends to investigate the phenomenon of library
anxiety among the undergraduates in North-central, Nigeria. North-central, Nigeria also
known as the Middle-Belt region is one of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. The zone
comprises six states: Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau states and the
federal capital territory, Abuja. The zone spanned from the west, around the confluence of
the River Niger and the River Benue. The zone is rich in natural land featuresand has many
historical and colonialrelics.
Objective of the study
The specific objective was to determine the level of library anxiety experienced by the
undergraduatesin federal universities in North-central, Nigeria.
RQ1. What is the level of library anxietyexperienced by the undergraduates?
RQ2. What is the most prevalent aspectof library anxiety among the undergraduates?
Literature review
Library anxiety is a psychological barrier that may be encountered by undergraduates,
which was first discovered and studied by Mellon in 1986 analytically.Mellon (1986) stated
Library
anxiety
409
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