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This paper aims to explore the use of Bostick’s (1992) Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) in a developing country perspective to find out the level of anxiety among university students and to identify the underlying factors that contribute to this phenomenon.

A slightly modified 43-item LAS was used to collect data from 350 students at Dhaka University. For data analysis, negatively worded statements were reverse-scored so that all the statements are scored in the same direction. The statistical significance is measured using Mann–Whitney (M-W) and Kruskal–Wallis (K-W) tests. The M-W tests were conducted to examine the differences in students’ library anxiety scores in terms of their age and educational levels. The K-W tests were conducted to examine the differences in students’ ratings on LAS items in terms of their age and faculty enrolment. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the survey data to examine the factors contributing to students’ anxiety. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the convergent validity of the measures chosen to represent each factor construct.

The result of this study indicated that library anxiety exists amongst Dhaka University students, as most LAS scores fell above 3 on a 5-point Likert scale. The individual differences in terms of gender, age, educational level and frequency of library visit were not significant for most of the items. The EFA, after several iterations, yielded a five-factor solution for library anxiety constructs although only two factors were found to have met the required reliability scores. The CFA, however, failed to produce any meaningful results. This paper made several recommendations to the university library administration to alleviate the problems that appear to have triggered library anxiety.

This is a pioneering study of the use of Bostick’s LAS in Bangladesh. It is hoped that the findings of this study will encourage researchers to develop anxiety scales which would address the need for library services in developing country context.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the status of library anxiety, which has received relatively little research attention in Pakistan, and its relationship with library use, academic performance (grade point average), gender and academic discipline among the undergraduate students.

Data were collected using a questionnaire from 725 fourth year undergraduate students of three different disciplines from three universities. The participation was voluntary. The data were processed using SPSS version 20.

A majority of the respondents (72.1 per cent) experienced a mild library anxiety. The factors: user education and user knowledge were the greatest sources of library anxiety. Findings revealed differences in library anxiety on the basis of gender and academic discipline. Library anxiety and academic performance had a significant negative relationship with each other.

This is the first study in Pakistan that addressed library anxiety and its relationship with library use, academic discipline and academic performance using a large group (N = 725) of undergraduate students.

Evaluates the effect of the library component of a freshman orientation program on student attitudes and library anxiety. A modified version of Bostick's Library Anxiety Scale was administered to 1,027 true freshmen enrolled in the Connections First‐Year Experience program at Utah State University in the fall of 2003. First year students showed a moderate level of library anxiety prior to their library orientation sessions. This anxiety was significantly decreased after the orientation sessions. A control group reported similar anxiety levels on the pre‐test and a much smaller degree of improvement on the post‐test. Proposes that academic libraries should participate in the First‐Year Experience programs on their campuses. These activities reduce the levels of library anxiety felt by first‐year students and reduce possible barriers to academic achievement. Concludes that this paper will be of use to librarians seeking administrative and campus‐wide support for inclusion of a library component in First‐Year Experience programs. The survey can be used to assess efficacy of activities for those libraries already participating in such programs.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship of information-seeking anxiety (ISA) with socio-academic variables of business students in the digital environment.

A cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire was conducted. The questionnaire, composed of 47 items of Information Seeking Anxiety Scale along with certain socio-academic variables, was administered personally among business students by visiting their classrooms at the Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan. The received 283 responses were analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean, standard deviation, t-test and one-way analysis of variance.

The results revealed that a large majority of business students were less comfortable in information seeking and experienced anxiety from mild to moderate levels. There were only a few respondents who faced either low or severe levels of ISA. In relationship testing, the students’ socio-academic variables such as program type, gender, school background, geographical background, information communication technology skills and English language competence did not appear to be the predictors of their ISA.

The results of this study should carefully be used while making generalizations for all the business students in Pakistan and abroad as this research collected data from the business students of a single university in Pakistan.

These results have greater implications for the future directions of information literacy as creating awareness and building capacity for skills about the information search process will help in reducing ISA. These findings provided a pragmatic insight that can be used as a guide by information professionals, especially those engaged in information services, to develop a need-based curriculum of information literacy which would ultimately help in the alleviation of anxiety and combating its effects on students’ academic performance.

This study address specifically ISA of business students that would make a worthy contribution to the existing research on ISA as, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no such study has appeared so far.

The purpose of this study is to find whether undergraduate students in the first discipline-based class can attain flow state while researching. Despite its widespread acceptance and application, flow theory has not been applied to the research process. Moreover, it can further librarians’ knowledge of the importance of affect in information seeking behavior.

Flow is a phenomenological state achieved when skill level is equal to challenge level. Flow experience was operationalized using Z-score analysis as one standard deviation above individuals’ averages. The study used mixed methods including event contingent experience sampling method, Bostick’s library anxiety scale and reflection papers. Following library instruction sessions, undergraduate participants scheduled research consultations with a librarian.

Individual research sessions grew more positive as reflected by Z scores over the semester, with one case of flow. Overall, participants’ library anxiety decreased minimally. Reflection papers reiterated the value of approachability and interest of the librarian, with those who had consultations feeling both increased confidence in their skills and in knowing they had an ally in their research.

The original collaborator and pedagogy were not utilized, thereby limiting the scope and sample size. The author was able to collaborate with other faculty. Future research would benefit from a larger sample size and more collaboration.

Using flow theory as a model can emphasize the positive aspects of research as interesting and enjoyable, even in the imposed query setting of the classroom, and it can encourage librarians’ display of interest during research consultations.

This study aims to define a set of assumptions for testing the four factors tested statistically to determine information-seeking anxiety based on quantitative data.

The developed questionnaire was distributed among graduate university students in Zhenjiang City to find and confirm the factor affecting information-seeking anxiety. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis technique has been applied to the sample data set of 329 sample size. Jamovi and SPSS, statistical analysis software, were used to determine the study validity indices.

This study shows that thematic anxiety, quality of resources anxiety, information communication technology anxiety and library anxiety have a significant effect on information-seeking anxiety.

This study highlights the four factors, i.e. library anxiety, information and communication technology (ICT) anxiety, thematic anxiety and the quality of resources cause information-seeking anxiety among graduate students.

In this age of the digital world, information-seeking anxiety plays a vital role in the vicious circle of seeking behavior. Therefore, to break through the vicious loop of seeking behavior with only information-seeking anxiety as a cure, concentrate on information-seeking anxiety. This study found that thematic anxiety, ICT anxiety, library anxiety and quality of resources anxiety significantly affect information-seeking anxiety.

Sets out to provide a selected bibliography or recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

Introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and exhibition catalogues examining library instruction and information literacy.

Provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the ways in which students seek help in libraries, and their feelings about using library enquiry services. In this way, it should bring practical benefits to academic libraries seeking to design and introduce new forms of reference service. The paper also aims to touch on the issue of whether anonymity offered by digital reference services is likely to make more students ask for help. A major aim of this study is to find ways to encourage those students who need help, to seek it.

This paper uses the results taken from 12 qualitative interviews with undergraduate students to examine these students' help‐seeking methods and their use of academic library reference services.

The study finds that the reasons for not using enquiry services were various and complex and included a lack of awareness of services, embarrassment or shyness, anxiety caused by mechanical barriers and affective barriers. The interviews revealed that shyness is more widespread than libraries might imagine and seemingly confident students can find asking for help embarrassing in some circumstances.

This paper focuses on students' thoughts and opinions, and it is this student‐centred approach which gives particular insight into the reasons students do not seek help. This adds to the body of qualitative research examining undergraduates' help seeking methods and provides practical advice for encouraging students to ask for help.

This paper aims to provide an introductory overview and selected annotated bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy across all library types.

It introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2014.

It provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the recent outreach service efforts of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Main Library in the form of a Hall of Residence Librarian Programme. The aim of the programme was to minimize library anxiety through partnership with the Office of Students Services.

The transition from the secondary to the tertiary level is not always the smoothest for some students. On the islands of the English-speaking Caribbean, such as Jamaica, it can be especially difficult as some matriculants have never used an automated library. These students often experience great difficulty in effectively using the library which may result in them shying away from doing so and thus negatively impact the quality of their work. The UWI, the UWI Main Library, Mona campus, Jamaica has sought to address this challenge through the development of an outreach project to the first-year students entitled the Halls of Residence Librarian (HRL) programme.

This new form of library outreach on The UWI Mona campus has yielded the offering of library services in new locations, strategic partnerships, increased interactions with the first-year students and a greater awareness of these students ' needs. Most importantly, it was very effective in reducing library anxiety among the first-year students.

The “low” turnout to Research Rescue was largely attributed to the fact that this programme was entirely optional for the students, and it was not affiliated with any compulsory course or class. There was also the issue of a lack of incentives to boost student attendance at these sessions.

This initiative is untested in the English-speaking Caribbean. The paper explores the outreach efforts of the library at the Mona campus of The UWI and seeks to add to the limited body of literature on Academic Library Outreach in the Caribbean.