Librarians’ attitudes towards application of information technology in academic libraries in Pakistan

Introduction

Information technology has emerged as an indispensable tool for processing, storing and disseminating information. Libraries are undergoing significant changes due to the application of information technologyin automated acquisitions, machine-readable cataloguing, circulation controls, online information retrieval, and selective dissemination of information, resource sharing, electronic document delivery, web applications, social media use, online journals and electronic databases. Our world is becoming an interconnected global community and use of the Internet has changed the fundamental roles of librarians and service levels and organisational cultures of libraries. Web applications, digitisation and the ability to access materials available in libraries and research centres from remote locations had also created dramatic changes in use and management of libraries (Corrall and Jolly, 2019; Hsieh-Yee,2001; Jantz, 2017; Landers and Youngman, 2009).

Innovations such as expert systems, virtual collections, interactive web interfaces, virtual reference services and personal web portals, smart phones and use of artificial intelligence indicate a movement towards much greater changes in the new millennium. Digital and electronic libraries are being established to complement and, in some cases, to completely replace the traditional libraries (Adamou and Ntoka,2017; Frey, 2006; Lynch, 2005 ; Mwageni, 2020; Shaikh and Munaf, 2019; Worrall, 2019).

Users in the developing world are also becoming information savvy and their demands for instant and remote access to global information materials is on the rise. These needs and expectations require librarians to innovate the way they have been handling recorded information. Authors including Blummer and Kenton (2018), Maceli (2018), Maceli and Burke ( 2016), Raju (2014), Riley-Huff and Rholes (2011) and Wei et al. (2015) have mentioned in their studies that appropriate use of information technology in information recording, acquisition, organisation, access and dissemination is critical to match and exceed user expectations.

To cope with these challenges, librarians have adopted new information technologies to provide innovative services to their users. However, technology itself does not provide value to library users. It is the librarian who uses the technology as a strategic resource to manage library resources, services and systems and who assists the users in the effective use of technology that makes the difference. Researchers including Adeyinka (2012), Al-Zahrani (2000), Jantz (2012) and Mishra et al. (2019) have mentioned that integrating technology into library services requires positive attitudes and commitment from librarians to explore and exploit the technology to its full potential. Attitudes affect both management and staff; however, the attitudes of executives have a direct impact upon employees. Employees sense their managers’ attitudes and respond accordingly. There is a consensus in the literature that the attitudes and perceptions of librarians significantly affect the implementation and use of computer-based library systems. In most cases, failures in information technology projects are attributed to the human related problems. Hence, librarians’ roles are crucial to the success or failure of information technology application in libraries (Adeyinka, 2012; Al-Zahrani, 2000; Baada, 2018; Babafemi, 2017; Batool, 2010; Chen et al., 2017; Jantz, 2012; Mishra et al., 2019; Rahman, 2010; Ramzan and Singh, 2010 ; Sarasvathy, 2018; Temjen and Saraf, 2010 ; Tiwari, 2016; Yeasmin, 2014). These needs and expectations require librarians to innovate the way they have been handling recorded information. Authors including Blummer and Kenton (2018), Maceli (2018), Maceli and Burke (2016), Raju (2014), Riley-Huff and Rholes (2011) and Wei et al. (2015) have mentioned in their studies that appropriate use of information technology in information recording, acquisition, organisation, access and dissemination is critical to match and exceed user expectations.

There is a dearth of empirical research about librarians’ attitudes in developing countries, especially in Pakistan. This paper has examined the attitudes and perceptions of librarians towards different aspects of information technology. This study is highly significant because, if the librarians who are responsible for innovating the library systems services and operation have positive attitudes towards information technology, they will certainly accept the new technologies and accelerate their application in libraries. However, if librarians adopt negative feelings or beliefs, they can become a bottleneck in innovating the libraries and consequently slowing down the progress of the parent institutions (Choi et al., 2019; Klein et al., 2001).

The data and discussion generated through this research will certainly help decision-makers, policy makers and researchers in understanding the feelings, beliefs and opinions of librarians towards innovation through application of emerging information technologies in Pakistan.

Problem statement

There have been visible improvements in the introduction of an electronic environment in governance, business, economy, health and education in Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan has renewed its emphasis on higher education and information technology. Correspondingly, the funding and concentration in these sectors has increased substantially. Availability, training and support for open source software is now widely available in Pakistan. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has electronically linked universities and provided full-text access to more than 75,000 online journals, digital dissertations and electronic books to public universities for free and for private universities and institutes at subsidised rates through its National Digital Library (Higher Education Commission, 2019; Ramzan and Singh, 2009).

Despite this focus by the patrons and the tremendous capabilities of information technology, libraries in Pakistan have lagged in their application compared to similar institutions in the developed world. A number of Pakistani authors (Asim and Mairaj, 2019; Awais and Ameen, 2019; Farooq et al., 2016; Khan, Masrek, and Mahmood, 2019 ; Khan, Masrek, Mahmood, and Qutab, 2017 ; Khan and Bhatti, 2017 ; Mirza and Arif, 2016; Qutab et al., 2014; Rafiq et al., 2018; Ramzan and Singh, 2009; Rehman, 2016) have found in their studies that many libraries are still using traditional methods and manual systems in acquisitions, technical processing, information retrieval, circulation control and other library activities. A recent study (Awais and Ameen, 2019) mentioned that only 15% of university libraries have adopted information technology-based innovations, while 85% are lagging far behind in using the latest technologies in their university libraries. No significant impact is visible in the libraries’ information technology infrastructure in their technology-based services and in use of available resources. One of the reasons for the above-mentioned failures could be that librarians have not been able to capitalise on this opportunity to leverage the benefit of an array of information technology applications in the country. The above authors argue that this passive attitude of responsible librarians forced the chief executives of academic institutions to rely on computer professionals and vendors for information technology applications, without due involvement of librarians. This could be an important reason for the failure of most information technology projects in Pakistani libraries. In the received literature on the information technology application in libraries, researchers from many countries have identified librarians’ attitudes as the most critical factor affecting the application of information technology in libraries. In Pakistan, a few authors (see above) have offered observations and recommendations to enhance the use of information technology in libraries. However, no scientific, comprehensive investigation on the attitudes of librarians regarding information technology has so far been attempted in Pakistan. It is hoped that the findings of this study will provide an insight into Pakistani librarians’ attitudes towards information technology innovations.

Literature Review

Librarians’ attitudes towards information technology

Everyone has an attitude towards an idea or object. Some individuals’ attitudes propel them along, helping them to deal with new challenges, overcome obstacles and accomplish their objectives. Others have attitudes that are anchors, slowing them down or stopping them accepting the innovation and changes in their life and workplaces.

An innovation creates a new achievable goal because it provides opportunities to do something previously unattainable, or at least to improve upon the processes or products. Therefore, people with positive attitudes will be motivated to capitalise on these opportunities. Information is being generated faster than libraries can acquire, organise, disseminate and store. There is little doubt that such technology provides improved opportunities for accessing information, but reslising these opportunities requires positive attitudes, new knowledge and skills that are difficult to acquire and update (Hallman, 1990 ). There is a general agreement amongst library scholars (Klobas and Clyde, 2000; Melchionda, 2007; Ramzan and Singh, 2010) that librarians’ attitude and their perceptions towards information technology do affect the implementation and usage of new technologies in libraries, and ultimately the services offered to the users.

Relationship between libraries’ characteristics and librarians’ information technology attitudes

Only a few studies investigated the interrelationship between characteristics of libraries and librarians’ information technology attitudes. A study of Government-sponsored special libraries in Malaysia by Yaacob (1990) revealed a significant relationship between librarians’ attitudes towards cost and resource allocation and the amount of technology available. A significant relationship was determined between the librarians’ attitudes, the amount of expenditure for information technology, and librarians’ age. No significant relationship was found between the librarians’ information technology attitudes, their gender and their library’s user size. Findings of a study by Luquire (1983) revealed that the style of decision-making, rank of librarian in the hierarchy of the university, the organisation and size of the library had a strong relationship with librarians’ attitudes towards innovation in libraries. However, the size of collections showed a negatively significant relationship with the librarians’ attitudes.

Relationship between librarians’ characteristics and their information technology attitudes

Several researchers have investigated the impact of librarians’ personality characteristics on their attitudes towards technological innovations in different geographical areas, institutions and situations. Powell (1998) found that librarians’ age was related to technology comfort level. Gender and age were two variables discussed in relation to resistance to technological change by DuMont and DuMont (1989) who found that female librarians were less interested in technology than male. Findings of a study by Simon (2006) revealed that, in most cases, female librarians, when exposed to computers and Internet at their workplace, were initially reluctant to adopt these technologies. In time, however, they felt more positive about the new technologies. Even so, overall, female librarians showed fewer positive attitudes towards information technology compared to male librarians. Findings of a study by Kim (1994) revealed that there were no significant relationships between attitudes towards new library technologies and gender, age or rank of library patrons. Their study also found that librarians in management positions displayed stronger positive attitudes towards technology as compared to those in non-managerial positions.

/audies by Freudenthal (2001), Sacks et al. (1993), Birdi and Zapf (1997) Hendrix (2007) found that age and gender are significantly related to the librarians’ attitudes towards information technology. The intensity and direction (positive and negative) of the significance were different in each case. A study by Adeyinka (2012) found that the respondents’ age, gender and computer experience had no significant influence on librarians’ attitudes towards information technology. The variations in results of these studies could be attributed to the culture, education, economy, information technology infrastructure, library education and type of libraries of the countries where these studies were conducted, and research methodologies used in these studies.

Research regarding the relationship between librarians’ information technology attitudes and their educational background conducted by Finlay and Finlay (1996) and Al-Zahrani (2000) found a significant relationship between the two variables. However, findings of two surveys carried out by Sievert et al. (1988) and Yoo (1988) revealed no significant relationship between the librarians’ level of education and their information technologyattitudes. Similarly, studies by Yoo (1988), Idowu (1998) and Al-Zahrani (2000) found a significant relationship between the librarians’ information technologyattitudes and their computer-related experience while studies by Adeyinka (2012), Adekunle et a (2007) and Uwaifo (2007) mentioned that computer experience had no significant influence on librarians’ information technologyattitudes.

The literature has shown that the attitude of the librarian as a champion of new initiatives and innovations plays a key role in introducing and enhancing the use of information technology in the library. While a significant body of literature has examined the impact of different variables on librarians’ attitudes, no comprehensive study has been conducted on this important topic in Pakistan so far. Thus, it is imperative to investigate their attitudes towards these technologies and identify the variables that can affect their attitudes towards technological innovations.

Methodology

To begin with, the author reviewed the relevant literature, and discussed the contents and objectives of the study with library scholars, behavioral scientists, statisticians and information technology experts to understand the practices and methods applicable in conducting information technologyand libraries related attitudinal research and to deploy tools and techniques for data analysis. That helped in understanding previous studies and formulating new questions. The study was guided by the following research questions and hypotheses:

RQ1:. What are the attitudes of the librarians in academic libraries of Pakistan towards information technology? Librarians’ information technology attitudes are taken as a dependent variable to investigate the effects of independent variables?
RQ2:. What is the level of the relationship between the attitudes of librarians towards information technology and libraries’ characteristics of levels of information technology availability, information technology usage, type (private or public), geographic location (rural or city), size of libraries (in terms of collections, number of library staff and number of users) and libraries’ budget?
RQ3:. What is the level of the relationship between the attitudes of librarians towards information technology and their personal characteristics of educational qualification, age, gender, years of experience and levels of information technologyexpertise in terms of frequency of information technologyusage, experience in computer use, recency of information technologytraining and level of information technologyknowledge?

It is hypothesised that:

H1:. There is a significant positive relationship between attitudes of librarians towards information technology and the levels of information technology availability and usage in academic libraries of Pakistan.
H2:. There is a significant positive relationship between attitudes of librarians towards information technology and their level of expertise in information technology.
RQ3:. There is a significant positive relationship between attitudes of librarians towards information technology and the amount spent on these technologies.

Instrument and pretest

The primary data was collected through a questionnaire. The author reviewed the literature of user surveys for attitudinal studies to identify a model survey instrument that could be adopted completely. However, such an instrument could not be found to survey the target sample to fulfill the study objectives. Therefore, a questionnaire was developed. The author learned useful ideas and information from a number of attitudes instruments, especially that used by Powell (1998) and used them in preparing a preliminary draft of the questionnaire. However, a few modifications were made to update and customise the attitudes statements before execution of the instrument in the current study.

The questionnaire was designed using mostly closed, structured questions, check boxes and Likert-type rating scales. Help was sought from behavioral scientists, information technology experts and library scholars in developing the questionnaire to ensure simplicity, clarity and validity in predicting its effectiveness. A tentative questionnaire was then devised incorporating the comments and suggestions of the experts.

To ensure its validity, the questionnaire was pre-tested on a group of 23 librarians from both public and private sectors with equal representation. Librarians were encouraged to give their opinions regarding the clarity, length and language of the questionnaire. The author discussed the questionnaire personally and over the phone with notable library researchers, behavioral scientists and statisticians at the Lahore University of Management Sciences and with the participating librarians in Lahore.

Population and sample

The subjects of the study were librarians working in academic libraries across Pakistan. A purposive sample of 288 librarians was drawn from a countrywide population of 682 academic libraries. Of the 288 questionnaires administered through mail, 236 (82%) respondents returned completed questionnaires. Some of the information technology attitudes and demographic information was incomplete in 17 responses. This left 219 (76% of the sample) valid questionnaires for data analysis and interpretation.

Data Analysis

Initially, the descriptive data including the frequencies, measures of central tendency, the standard deviation and the total numbers of responses for each variable were obtained to get the overall picture of the responses. Correlation coefficient, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and t-test procedures were deployed to determine the relationship among key variables and for testing of hypotheses. These tests were measured at the value of .05 level of significance because of its common acceptance as a standard in social sciences research. Responses on availability of information technology were re-coded to obtain the overall picture of the presence of all kinds of information technology in respondent libraries. For attitude statements, five numerical values were assigned to each statement. Five points were allotted to the most favorable (Strongly Agreed=SA), four points to (Agreed=A), three for (Undecided=UD), two points for (Disagreed=DA) and one point to the least favorable response (Strongly Disagreed=SDA) in case of positive statement or item. The scoring was reversed in case of negative statements or items.

Findings

Attitudes towards information technology

Attitude in this study is defined as the perceptions, beliefs and opinions of an individual librarian towards the impact, cost and resource allocation, training needs and general effects of information technology applications in academic libraries of Pakistan. To measure the attitude variables, respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement on forty-two attitude statements on a five-point Likert scale.

Out of forty-two information technology attitude statements, seventeen statements were used to elicit attitudes of librarians towards the impact of information technology, seven statements deal with attitudes towards information technology cost and resource allocation, four concerning attitudes towards information technology training of staff and users and fourteen statements regarding general information technology attitudes. For reporting purposes, the attitudinal statements were arranged according to mean scores in descending order.

The findings for each part are explained below and presented in tables carrying user responses on a five-point Likert scale against each statement. The numbers and percentages of respondents’ responses along with the mean score for each statement are mentioned in each table

Attitudes about impact of information technology

Data in Table 1 provides description of librarians’ feedback on their personal beliefs and opinions regarding impact of information technology on libraries. In response to the first six statements, a significant majority (82-94%) of the respondents agreed that; each year information technology offers more effective ways to carry out library operations; information technology helps make specific information available that otherwise might not be available; information technology enables the most effective ways of resource sharing; online databases provide more up-to-date information than conventional catalogues and indexes; use of information technology helps make quick and correct decisions; and computers help eliminate repetitive and clerical functions. The mean score for these statements remained over 4.01.

A total of 149 (68%) respondents agreed to a statement that changes occurring due to information technology application are out of control of librarians so they have to adjust accordingly, while 47 (21.4%) respondents disagreed with this statement. Similarly, 139 (63.5%) respondents believed that information technology would not appreciably reduce the number of library staff, while 53 (24.2%) respondents did not agree with this statement. In response to a negative statement that card catalogues can be modified more easily than Access Catalogue, 70 (31.9%) respondents agreed while the majority, 128 (58.4%) disagreed with this statement. Respondents were divided over the next two negative statements that information retrieval is easier through printed resources than online resources, and automated acquisition is not feasible for Pakistani libraries.

For the next three negative statements, 45-52% respondents agreed that data storage on computer is highly risky; extensive use of information technology has created job fears amongst librarians; and data retrieved through print resources is more authentic than online resources. The librarians were divided over the statement that all levels of staff can easily work with the information technology based systems as 115 (52.5%) respondents supported the statement while 81 (36.9%) did not support this statement. Sixty-six (30.1%) respondents believed that usage of computers is a health and environment problem while the majority, 120 (54.8%) respondents did not believe this. The mean score of 3.42 for the above seventeen statements revealed that the librarians showed positive attitudes towards the impact of information technology. The overall positive attitudes of respondents towards the impact of information technology was further reinforced, given that most respondents showed a low level of agreement (less than 3) with negative statements.

Attitudes towards information technology costs, training and resource allocation

A summary of respondents’ attitudes towards information technology costs, training of new systems and resource allocation is presented in Table 2. The data indicates that a significant majority (over 94%) of the respondents agreed with the statements that attainment of theoretical and practical information technology knowledge should be a core component of library education in Pakistan; all levels of staff involved in information technology applications should be given on-going education and training through workshops and courses; and if extra funds were allocated, they would buy information technology products. Similarly, a significant majority 198 (90.4%) of respondents believed that each year librarians should increase expenditure on information technology-based resources and services. A good number of respondents agreed that whenever a new technology is acquired, it is essential that funds should be allocated for the purpose of education and training, even if it is expensive.

Attitudes towards information technology training for staff and users

Data depicted in table 3 indicates that a majority, 135 (61.7%), of the respondents agreed, while 66 (30.1%) did not agree with the statement that the expenditure of information technology maintenance and supplies is very high compared to printed resources. A majority, 122 (55.7%), of the respondents disagreed while 72 (32.8%) agreed with the statement that the training provided by Pakistan Library Association Computer Training Centre and other institutions in Pakistan is of high quality and very effective. Disagreement by most of the respondents with this negative statement shows librarians’ positive attitudes and concern that the standard and quality of the training currently provided need to be raised. Similarly, 120 (54.8%) of respondents did not agree while still 87 (39.7%) respondents agree with the statement that information technology is a luxury for Pakistani libraries. Only 39.7% of the respondents showed agreement with a negative statement that cost of information technology tools is too high for their worth in Pakistani libraries. Similarly, 38.9% of the respondents agreed with the statement that cost is a major factor of not buying information technology for their libraries. Mean scores on attitudes of librarians on information technology training and resources allocation were very high such as 4.32 and 4.10 out of 5.

Attitudes towards general information technology statements

Findings of the first four statements regarding importance of information technologyapplication in Pakistani libraries revealed that majority of the respondents agreed with the statements that Pakistani libraries should take concrete steps to develop library networks. Statements also showed that more advanced information technology will be applied in Pakistani libraries in the future; applications of information technology should be a high priority for libraries; and new information technology is exciting and fascinating. The mean score for these statements remained over 4.08.

Most respondents (169 = 77.2%) agreed to the statement that electronic resources are effective to conduct simple and complex searches compared to manual sources. A significant number of respondents (160 = 73.1%) did not believe that the competencies developed by Pakistan library schools were equivalent to international standard and could help in meeting the emerging technology challenges, while 46 (21%) showed agreement with this statement. The majority of the respondents (152 = 69.4%) agreed that Pakistani librarians carry many myths and confusion about information technology applications while 47 (21.5%) of the respondents did not agree with this statement. Findings regarding information technology ownership statement mentioned at serial number 8, 9, 10 and 12 revealed that a reasonable number of respondents were confused regarding responsibilities for information technology application in their libraries.

Most respondents (147 = 67.1%) disagreed while 61 (27.9%) agreed with the statement that it is difficult for librarians to handle computer technologies. Respondents were divided over the statements that rules and schemes developed for print collections have become obsolete now, and librarians in Pakistan are finding it difficult to cope with the changing technologies. The mean scores for each of the four groups of information technology statements, as well as for the overall information technology attitudes, were higher than 3.42 on a five-point scale.

Overall information technologyattitudes

The respondents’ overall attitudes towards information technology have been shown by the statements and the breakdown of their attitudes towards impact of information technology, information technology costs and resource allocation, information technology training and general information technology attitude statements. The mean scores given against each group of statements indicate the respondents’ average level of agreement with the particular group of statements. The mean score of 4.19 indicates librarians’ consensus and high priority of information technology related training for both the patrons and library staff. The overall mean score of 3.59 indicates that respondents showed positive attitudes towards information technology statements. This was further reinforced given that most of the respondents showed a low level of agreement with negative statements.

The mean of seventeen information technology attitudes statements about impact of information technology is 3.43; it is 3.59 for seven statements about information technology costs and resource allocation. The mean score for four attitudes statements regarding information technology training is higher among all the groups as it is 4.19 and for fourteen general information technologyattitudes statements the mean score is 3.64. The overall mean score for the forty-two attitudes statements are 3.71 reflecting an overall positive attitude of librarians towards application of information technology in academic libraries of Pakistan.

Respondents placed high emphasis on the following statements:

1. Application of information technologyshould be a high priority for libraries.
2. Pakistani librarians should take concrete steps to develop library networks for resource sharing.
3. More advanced information technologies will be applied in Pakistan libraries in future.
4. Information technology is exciting and fascinating.
5. Budget should be provided for training whenever a new technology is acquired even if it is highly expensive.

The respondents also emphasised the need for orientation of library staff and users for every new system installed or implemented, the need for devising new rules and regulations for information technology environment, the need for highly recommended changes in the syllabi of library schools and in the contents of the Pakistan Library Association Computer Training Centre courses. However, it was discouraging to note that 28% of the respondents still believed that information technology is a separate discipline and librarians need not learn it, and it is difficult for librarians to handle computers and other technologies. Forty percent of respondents believed that information technology is still a luxury for Pakistani libraries, whilst 35% of the respondents believed that information retrieval is easier through printed resources compared to online resources. Similarly, some librarians were not clear regarding ownership for introducing information technology in libraries.

Findings also revealed respondents’ negative attitudes with the five statements concerning librarians’ job fears because of extensive information technology use: maintaining automated inventory (accessioning); data storage on computers is risky, cost of information technology tools is too high for their worth to Pakistani libraries. Respondents also showed negative attitudes towards abandoning rules and regulations developed to handle printed resources versus development and adoption of new rules for handling information technology tools and resources in libraries.

Correlation between librarians’ information technology attitudes and libraries’ characteristics

There was no significant difference in the librarians’ information technology attitudes based on the type of library (public or private), location (city or town), collection size (number of books) and libraries’ user size or operating budget. A significant relationship was found between librarians’ information technology attitudes and number of librarians, libraries’ expenditure on information technology, level of information technologyavailability and information technologyusage level.

Correlation between librarians’ information technologyattitudes and their characteristics

There was no significant relationship was found between librarians’ information technology attitudes and their gender, their experience as a librarian, and their levels of written contribution to information technology in libraries. A significant relationship was determined between librarians’ information technology attitudes and their highest qualification, their year of attaining latest qualification, age and experience as a librarian. Similarly, a significant relationship was found between librarians’ information technologyattitudes and their computer use at home, frequency of information technologyuse, computing experience recency in information technologytraining, level of technology knowledge and awareness of new technologies.

Hypothesis testing

H1 The first hypothesis was tested through two dimensions, namely (i) information technology availability and information technology attitudes, and (ii) information technology use and information technology attitudes. For the first dimension, respondents’ levels of information technology availability were obtained through computing the availability of all kinds of hardware, information access technologies, software, information technology services and availability of electronic resources in respondent libraries. To obtain a numerical value of the responses on information technology availability in libraries, key variables were assigned weighted numbers, keeping in view their importance for libraries. Because of weighing a new variable, information technology availability levels was established. Five groups were defined to depict the information technology availability level, namely (1) zero information technology availability level, (2) low, (3) average, (4) good and (5) excellent information technology availability level. The comparison of mean scores of the respondent libraries’ information technology availability levels and librarians’ information technology attitudes indicate a strong positive relationship between the two constructs with an F-value of 3.462, significant at a 0.009 level. Results of the Pearson correlation between the means of information technology availability and information technology attitude also indicate that the two constructs were highly and positively correlated with a correlation coefficient of 0.254, significant at the 0.01 level, thus supporting the hypothesis, that the more information technology available in respondent libraries, the more positive are the librarians’ information technology attitudes.

In the second dimension, information technology use by patrons and library staff by information technology attitudes, information technology use by respondents was obtained through computing the means of 16 statements eliciting use of common information technologies by library staff and patrons measured on a 5-point Likert type scale. Respondents were asked to indicate the extent of use of different information technologies by library patrons and staff. Findings revealed that the two constructs information technology attitudes and information technology use by patrons and library staff were positively correlated, with a correlation coefficient of 0.257, significant at the 0.01 level, thus supporting the hypothesis

The results of tests for both the dimensions revealed that a significant positive relationship exists between the two constructs and supported the hypothesis that there is a significant positive relationship between attitudes of librarians towards information technology and the levels of information technology availability and usage in libraries of Pakistan.

H2 To test the second hypothesis, the mean of librarians’ expertise in information technology was obtained through computing the six variables namely, (i) computer use at home, (ii) frequency of information technology use, (iii) experience in computer use, (iv) levels of technology knowledge, (v) awareness about new technologies and (vi) respondents’ level of written contribution on information technology in libraries. Findings revealed that the two constructs, librarians’ level of information technology expertise and their information technology attitudes, were positively correlated, with a correlation coefficient of .289, significant at the .01 level, thus supporting the hypothesis. This implies that the level of librarians’ expertise and experience directly influence their attitudes. The higher the librarians’ information technology expertise level, the more positive their information technology attitudes would be.

H3 For the third hypothesis, the analysis between the means of the information technology expenditure and information technology attitudes revealed that there was significant positive relation between the two constructs, with the Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.1333, significant at the 0.05 level, supporting the hypothesis. This indicates that there is a minor difference in the librarians’ information technology attitudes employed in libraries with different levels of information technology spending.

Discussion

In contrast to the popular belief that librarians in developing countries are inclined to resist changes, the findings of this study revealed that, overall, the librarians of academic libraries in Pakistan were positive about application of information technology in their libraries. Although not all the librarians were experts in information technology, they feel that information technology is a useful tool and enabler to perform different library-related functions effectively. Moreover, they must be aware that more and more resources are now available in electronic format. Similarly, librarians must be aware of rising user expectations in terms of appropriate information technology use. There was a consensus amongst librarians regarding allocation of resources for information technology training and devising new rules to handle information technology related equipment, systems and resources. However, a significant number of librarians were still confused over ownership of information technology based innovation in libraries. It seems that, due to lack of necessary knowledge and skills to initiate innovative information technology projects, librarians were waiting for instructions from information technology or MIS departments/university management to start projects for library automation. This identifies a lack of leadership, pro-activeness, communication skills and innovation amongst librarians to bring changes in their libraries. The research revealed fears of information technology amongst librarians. Furthermore, many respondents believed that information technology is more suitable for developed countries and is a luxury for Pakistani libraries.

A significant positive correlation was determined between attitudes of librarians towards information technology and libraries’ information technology availability, significant at the 0.01 level. The analysis supported the hypothesis that the more positive the attitudes of librarians towards information technology, the more information technology was made available for library users. Similarly, a significant positive correlation was determined between attitudes of librarians towards information technology and information technology use by patrons and library staff, significant at the 0.01 level. The analysis supported the hypothesis that the more positive the attitudes of librarians towards information technology, the more information technology was made available and utilised in academic libraries. The analysis also supported the hypothesis that the more positive the attitudes of librarians towards information technology, the more information technology-related innovations are made, more information technology is made available and utilised by library users. The confirmation of the relationship between the attitudes of librarians and libraries’ information technology availability is in line with Powell's (1998) research.

A significant positive relationship was found between attitudes of librarians towards information technology and their level of expertise in information technology. This indicates that prior experience and information technology knowledge has a significant impact on attitudes towards information technology. These findings are in line with Roger's (2010) and Young's (2010) diffusion of innovation theory that the respondents who remain socially alive and possess good information technology knowledge show more positive attitudes towards information technology-based innovations. This also implies that librarians require continuing education and exposure to increase their level of knowledge of new technologies. A significant relationship was determined between librarians’ information technology attitudes, their highest professional qualification, and the year they attained professional qualification.

The findings of the present study are in line with the findings of Al-Zahrani (2000) and Luquire (1983) that demographic variables such as age, experience in computer use, recency in information technology training, frequency of information technology use, libraries’ information technology availability level and librarians’ awareness about the potential of information technology are significantly correlated with librarians’ information technology attitudes. The most significant relationship was found between attitudes of librarians and awareness about information technology with F-value of 5.018, significant at the 0.001 level. Therefore, it is evident that these variables can make the attitudes of librarians more positive towards information technology.

Unlike Luquire (1983), no significant relationship was found between librarians' attitudes and the size of libraries (in terms of collections or library members). A possible explanation for the lack of any significant relationship between these variables is that librarians, even in small libraries, can have high positive attitudes towards information technology and vice versa. However, a significant positive relationship was determined between the number of librarians and the attitudes of the librarians towards information technology. The reason for this outcome could be that, with a good number of librarians in their staff, the librarians may feel more confident and can find information technology-oriented staff to help them in applying new information technologies. No significant relationship was found between attitudes of librarians and the type of library (public or private) and location (city, rural area) of libraries. No difference was determined in the librarians’ attitudes towards information technology based on gender in this study, while males showed more positive attitudes towards technology than females in the earlier study conducted (Simon, 2006).

Librarians’ expertise in information technology and libraries’ information technology availability are important variables influencing their attitudes towards information technology. Despite significant funding available to academic libraries, the application of information technology is low in Pakistani libraries compared to similar libraries in developed countries. The study found that the librarians’ positive attitudes could be leveraged to increase the libraries’ potential to acquire and use new technologies, given adequate training, exposure to new technologies, financial resources, role in decision-making and support from information technology and other departments.

Conclusion

One of the outcomes of this study is that the information technology attitudes of librarians have been found to be slightly positively associated with the libraries’ information technology availability level and librarians’ expertise in information technology. Therefore, a significant effort is required to enhance the librarians’ level of positivity towards application of information technology in their libraries and increase awareness of new technologies among the librarians in Pakistan. Librarians should be more proactive in reading, discussing and publishing information technology-related issues and experiences. It is important for organisations to send librarians abroad to attend workshops, seminars, short-term training courses and visits so that they can observe the latest technologies and raise their level of knowledge to implement the appropriate information technologies in Pakistani libraries. Pakistani librarians should take the responsibility to initiate and implement innovative information technologies in their libraries. More emphasis should be placed on improving the attitudes of the librarians. To achieve this purpose librarians, as the heads of department and facilitators, need to be fully involved in any information technology-based acquisition for libraries. Their effective involvement at each stage of the information technology decision-making for the library will ensure their ownership, motivation and positive attitudes for the promotion of information technology.

About the author(s)

Professor Dr. Muhammad Ramzan, Corresponding author. Director General, Punjab Higher Education Commission. His contact address is mramzaninfo@gmail.com
Muhammad Asif is a Program Manager at the Information Technology University, Lahore, Pakistan. He can be contacted at asifch@itu.edu.pk
Shakil Ahmad is a Research Services Librarian at Prince Sultan University, Riyad, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He can be contact at shakil@psu.edu.sa

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