Library Anxiety
Planning Instruction & Learning Activities (read full series)
What is it?
Students often experience fear or anxiety when they are confronted with having to use the library for a research project (Mellon, 1986; Kulthau, 1991). They experience feelings of being lost and/or intimidated, which stem from: size of library, location of resources, where to begin, and fear of reaching out.
Library anxiety can impact student success because students may: not attend or learn from library tours or classes; develop poor study habits; be unable to perform library-related tasks; become library and search avoidant; be reluctant to ask library staff for help (Carlile, 2007)1 .
Research
Library anxiety can be exacerbated by assumptions faculty have about how undergraduate students approach information research (Leckie, 1996), the design of research-based writing assignments (Head and Eisenberg, 2010), and misperceptions students have about the nature of research (Hinchliffe, Rand & Collier, 2018; Rempel & Deitering, 2017).
Data
or more of all undergraduate students express some degree of library anxiety (Abusin & Zainab, 2010; Mellon, 1986).
of undergraduates feel uncomfortable searching for information (Blundell & Lambert, 2014).
Teaching Strategies
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Acknowledge library anxiety and encourage your students to seek assistance from the library.
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Incorporate relevant library Subject Guides into your research assignment prompts and your Canvas course page.
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Consult with a librarian to see how we can help your students develop their information search skills and learn about library resources. We can schedule an instruction or orientation session for your class.
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Be explicit with students about your expectations for research assignments. For example, break assignments down into discrete steps; consider the design of your writing assignments; be transparent.
Students say ...
- “Friendly and very welcoming staff.” [from a library orientation]
- “I am no longer hesitant or intimidated when it comes to the process of information collection for a report. I am also much more knowledgeable in what resources are available to me to make my research truly stand out.’’ [from a library research class]
Reflection
- What do you assume about how your students approach information research?
- What do written assignment instructions in your class communicate to students about their research process?
- How can you share examples with your students of times you encountered challenges in your own information research process and how you navigated them?
- 1List of all references in the complete JITT Guide.