Library Anxiety of Thepsatri Rajabhat University Students

Abstract

The objectives of this survey research were to: 1) study the library anxiety of Thepsatri Rajabhat University students, 2) compare the levels of students' anxiety on using library classified by gender, faculties, years of study, GPA, frequency of using library, and experience in learning to use the library/information literacy, 3) study the relationships between the library anxiety and recognizing the importance of the library, resources and services, and 4) study the relationships between the library anxiety and valuing the library as a resource to achieve educational goals.

The sample size were 843 students in academic year 2015 of Thepsatri Rajabhat University. The instrument used for collecting the data was questionnaire with 43 questions and five dimensions: 1) barriers with staff, 2) affective barriers, 3) comfort with the library, 4) knowledge of the library, and 5) mechanical barriers. The data were collected during March 7-25, 2016. The statistics used for analyzing the data were percentage, average, standard deviation, t-test, F-test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient.

The findings showed: 1) overall, library anxiety of students was at the low level, when considered by each dimension, it was found that students had library anxiety at the low level, 2) the levels of students' anxiety on using library compared by independent variables, the results indicated that library anxiety were different when classified by faculties, GPA, frequency of using library, and experience in learning to use the library/information literacy, 3) there were negative relationships at the lowest level between the library anxiety and recognizing the importance of the library, resources and services, and 4) there were negative relationships at the lowest level between the library anxiety and valuing the library as a resource to achieve educational goals.