Beyond Anxiety: The Emotional Research Experiences of First-Year Students

Presented April 2023 with Katie Blocksidge at LILAC

 Robust literature surrounding library anxiety exists, starting with Mellon, who using Grounded Theory and qualitative data discovered students speaking of fear regarding research and libraries (Mellon,1986). This spurred research related to library anxiety and research anxiety continuing well into the present, which included the creation of multiple Anxiety Scales over the years (Jacobson, 1991; Bosticks, 1992; Swigon, 2011). If something is sought, it is often found, and unlike Mellon, many of the following studies were explicitly looking for anxiety and its root; organizing research around library anxiety ignores that discomfort is part of learning and can frame instruction within deficit thinking instead of engaging with the stated needs of students (Maluski & Bruce, 2022) Our study follows in the footsteps of Mellon, in which student interviews regarding research experiences were analyzed using grounded theory. A broad range of emotions outside of fear and anxiety was expressed by students, including positive ones such as Passionate Persistence. This expanse of emotion aligns with the research done by Kirker and Stonebraker, speaking of research as emotional labor in addition to intellectual labor.

In this presentation, participants will explore the potential assumptions they are making about student emotional components of research. Drawing from the results of 21 interviews with first-year students on their experiences searching for and evaluating information, we demonstrate that students experienced a range of emotions as part of their research process. Students recounted feelings of frustration, self-doubt, and confusion, but also recalled their persistence in the face of research challenges. Student emotions were complex, but not negative: their information-seeking behavior was active instead of avoidant.

We believe that the emotional components of research have implications for how librarians teach within the classroom, moving us beyond focusing on what students may not understand to exploring how their emotions inform their approach to research based on previous experiences. These emotions also inform us on how students navigate research challenges and their changing information environment; the frustration experienced by students as they research can spur them to problem-solving and experimentation, encouraging a flexible mindset for approaching complex problems/situations. Our findings have the potential to impact librarians in a multitude of roles, but most prominently those who work directly with students as well as faculty. Insight into more than just grades, the most common evaluative aspect for student success, humanizes students in a way numbers do not. Moving from a deficit mindset is made easier when previous trials and tribulations are revealed, showing student persistence in trying to achieve their research goals, but being unable to due to a lack of transparency in teaching, system design, and other problems outside their control. This unique insight gives librarians a chance to approach their roles in student success in a new light, focusing not on student’s negative emotions, but about what motivates them to research productively and proactively, and grow within their own definition of student scholars.

References

Bostick, S.L. (1992). The Development and Validation of the Library Anxiety Scale (ProQuest Order No. 9310624) [Doctoral dissertation, Wayne State University, 1992]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

Jacobson, F. (1991). Gender differences in attitudes toward using computers in libraries: An exploratory study. Library & Information Science Research 13(3), 267-297.

Kirker, M.J., & Stonebraker, I. (2019). Architects, renovators, builders, and fragmenters: a model for first year students’ self-perceptions and perceptions of information literacy. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, (45)1, 1-8.

Maluski, K. & Bruce, S. (2022). Dispelling the myth of library anxiety and embracing academic discomfort. In the Library with the Lead Pipe.

Mellon, C.A. (1986). Library anxiety: a grounded theory and its development. College & Research Libraries (47)2, 160-165.

Swigon, M. (2011). Library anxiety among polish students: Development and validation of the Polish library anxiety scale. Library and Information Science Research 33(2), 144-150.