Investigating the Effectiveness of a Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course in Reducing Library Anxiety for Adult Learners

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore

The study investigates library anxiety levels among 30 adult learners before and after completing a two-credit hybrid information literacy course. A modified version of the Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale is administered at the start and end of the course to compare changes in anxiety. Results show moderate effectiveness overall, with significant increases in awareness of library resources and comfort with searching and library technology. No significant reductions appear for comfort with staff or the library space.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Literature Review

Communications in Information Literacy | Volume 13 | Issue 1 | Article 3 | | --- | --- | 2019 Investigating the Effectiveness of a Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course in Reducing Library Anxiety for Adult Learners Roslyn Grandy The College of New Rochelle, roslyngrandy@gmail.com Let us knowhow access to this document benefits you. Follow this and additional works at: [https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit](https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit) Part of the Information Literacy Commons Recommended Citation Grandy, R. (2019). Investigating the Effectiveness of a Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course in Reducing Library Anxiety for Adult Learners. Communications in Information Literacy, 13 (1), 23-42. [https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2019.13.1.3](https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2019.13.1.3) This Research Article is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communications in Information Literacy by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, [please contact](please contact pdxscholar@pdx.edu)[ pdxscholar@pdx.edu](please contact pdxscholar@pdx.edu). Grandy: Effectiveness of a Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course COMMUNICATIONS IN INFORMATION LITERACY | VOL. 13, NO. 1, 2019 23 Investigating the Effectiveness of a Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course in Reducing Library Anxiety for Adult Learners Roslyn Grandy, The College of New Rochelle Abstract This study examines levels of library anxiety in 30 adult learners before and after completing a two-credit hybrid information literacy course. A modified version of the Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale was administered at the beginning and end of the course to compare levels of library anxiety. An analysis of the data revealed that the course was moderately effective in reducing library anxiety in adult learners. Awareness of library resources, comfort with the search process, and comfort level with library technology significantly increased after course completion. No significant decreases in library anxiety were reported in the areas of comfort level with staff or the library space. Keywords: library anxiety, adult learners, nontraditional students, information literacy, academic libraries, credit courses Research Articles edited by Christopher V. Hollister & April Schweikhard Grandy, R. (2019). Investigating the effectiveness of a credit-bearing information literacy course in reducing library anxiety for adult learners. Communications in Information Literacy, 13(1), 23-42. Copyright for articles published in Communications in Information Literacy is retained by the author(s). Author(s) also extend to Communications in Information Literacy the right to redistribute this article via other scholarly resources and bibliographic databases. This extension allows the authors'copyrighted content to be included in some databases that are distributed and maintained by for-profit companies. All other rights of redistribution are licensed by Communications in Information Literacy under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BYNC-SA 4 .0) . [ RESEARCH ARTICLE ] Grandy Effectiveness of a Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course Published by PDXScholar, 2019 Communications in Information Literacy, Vol. 13, Iss. 1 [2019], Art. 3 24 COMMUNICATIONS IN INFORMATION LITERACY | VOL. 13, NO. 1, 2019 Introduction Attending college can be an overwhelming experience for adult learners, especially for those who have been away from formal education for many years. These students often face work, family, and community responsibilities that constrain their ability complete assignments on time. In order to conduct research for their papers and projects, it is vital for adult students to familiarize themselves with a place they may have never visited before: the college library. Anxiety surrounding use of

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

The study examines whether a two-credit hybrid information literacy course reduces library anxiety for adult learners.

How was library anxiety measured?

A modified Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale was administered at the beginning and end of the course to compare learners’ anxiety levels.

Which areas improved after the course?

Awareness of library resources, comfort with the search process, and comfort level with library technology increased significantly after course completion.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore