Technostress in libraries: causes, effects and solutions
| Published date | 01 May 1987 |
| Date | 01 May 1987 |
| Pages | 282-287 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb044766 |
| Author | Julie Bichteler |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Technostress in libraries:
causes, effects and
solutions
Accompanying the successful and exciting high tech revolution in libraries
has been the occurence of a number of physical, psychological and social
problems among staff and patrons. This paper reports on technostress in
libraries, examining some of the fears, frustrations and misconceptions
which hamper the effective use of computers. Technostress among library
staff members may result from poorly designed workstations, inadequate
training and inept planning and implementation on
the
part of management.
Library users often have false expectations and
a
lack of understanding of the
system,
resulting, at least
in
part, from inappropriate training. Both staff and
users may suffer from fear, insecurity and general apprehension of new
technology. Managers can take a variety of approaches to alleviate
technostress in staff and patrons.
Julie Bichteler
Graduate School of
Library and Information
Science
The University of
Texas
at
Austin
Austin
Texas 78712-1276
USA
ARTICLES
Introduction
T
he use of sophisticated technology continues
to become increasingly commonplace in
libraries of the eighties. Librarians and library
users alike agree that the high tech revolution has
made possible many exciting new opportunities in
running and using the electronic library. Along
with impressive achievements in improving
library services and streamlining library opera-
tions,
however, high tech has produced a new set
of
problems.
These may be intellectual, psycholo-
gical, physical or social and in some instances
prove to be real barriers to effective library
development.
As these problems have become noticeable in
people who deal with high tech in their
jobs,
there
has been a great deal of investigation and com-
ment on some of the negative aspects of high tech.
We hear more and more about the phenomenon
called, variously, 'technostress', 'technophobia'
or 'terminal paralysis'. Brod has defined tech-
nostress as 'a modern disease of adaption caused
by an inability to cope with the new computer
technologies in a healthy manner'[1]. Tech-
nostress may result from the struggle to accept
and adapt to computer technology or in over-iden-
tification with computers.
This paper examines some of the fears, frustra-
tions and misconceptions which act against the
most effective use of high tech in the library. It
concentrates on problems of library users and
library staff and attempts to answer three ques-
tions.
What are the most obvious causes of tech-
nostress when implementing and using new
technology? What are the more subtle factors
which contribute to technostress? What specific
steps should library managers take to alleviate
technostress among staff and users?
In investigating these problems, the author
talked to librarians, end-users, consultants,
managers and software producers to obtain a
variety of points of
view.
These conversations did
not take the form of structured interviews, but
were open-ended discussions of sources of tech-
nostress and possible solutions. Participants'
stories of success and failure and their frank ap-
praisals of problems in their own institutions were
invaluable.
Library staff attitudes toward automation
The attitudes of library staff members toward a
proposed automation project fall into fairly dis-
tinct categories. These categories seem to hold
true over a wide spectrum of types of libraries and
automation applications[2].
Fortunately, for the sake of progress toward
automating libraries, the great majority of staff
members are open-minded, reasonable people
who may in fact be rather enthusiastic about the
prospect of automation. They show a genuine in-
terest in learning more and being included in
training and orientations.
A second group exhibits attitudes ranging from
indifference to hostility. They don't give the
project the benefit of the doubt and assume that it
will be unsuccessful. They enjoy pointing out
ways the library could more appropriately spend
money — on new books, for example, or on staff
travel. Some of these employees, driven by fear or
a strong preference for the status quo, are truly
resistant to automation. They may have an irra-
tional fear of
technology.
They may be insecure in
their jobs and afraid of being replaced. They may
be older employees who fear being compared (un-
favorably) to new, younger employees in the up-
coming training program which the project will
require. They may be people with a comfortable
niche who fear competition and loss of status;
they are perfectly happy with the present system
and see no reason to change.
Of
course,
these fears are often well-grounded in
reality. Jobs do change because of automation; in
a recent analysis, for example, Horney[3] docu-
ments technical services staff reallocations at
Northwestern University, with work respon-
sibilities shifted from professionals to support
staff and from support staff to students. Reassign-
ments and staff reductions resulted in con-
siderable savings in salaries. People may lose
status;
a cataloger who has been on the staff for
many years may be the only person who can
282 The Electronic Library, October 1987.
Vol.
5, No. 5.
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