AQAK: A library anxiety scale for undergraduate students

The library environment has drastically changed since 1992 when Bostick’s Library Anxiety Scale was developed. This project aimed to develop a scale specifically for undergraduate students. A three-stage study was conducted, using students of Kuwait University. A variety of statistical measures, including factor analysis, were used to process the data. A test re-test was undertaken to estimate the reliability of the scale. The resulting scale, named AQAK, consists of 40 statements clustered into five factors which are: (1) Library resources, (2) Library staff, (3) User knowledge, (4) Library environment, and (5) User education. This new scale with a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.904 is 90 percent reliable. The gender of the participants, the type of high school attended, and the college where they are studying have no relationship with library anxiety.

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