Off-campus adult learners' levels of library anxiety as a predictor of attitudes toward the Internet

This study assesses what factors associated with library anxiety predict off-campus adult learners' attitudes toward the educational use of the Internet. Off-campus adult learners were graduate students attending classes at a distance of 50 or more miles from their home institution's library. Two factors associated with library anxiety, knowledge of the library and affective barriers, yielded a multiple R of .30, accounting for 9 percent of the variance in respondents' attitudes toward the Internet. Findings indicate that off-campus adult learners' perceptions of their information retrieval skills impact their anxiety levels while utilizing library and Internet resources. Findings suggest the benefit of including information in library tutorials about accessing databases and hands-on computer instruction to elevate adult learners' perceptions of their competency.