“A modern disease of adaptation…”?: Technostress and academic librarians working in digital scholarship at ARL institutions

Abstract

Technostress, a phenomenon that describes stress related to increasing and more sophisticated use of technology in a workplace, has been studied extensively by organizational psychologists in a various workplaces, including academic libraries. Relatively little research has considered the impact of technology induced stress experienced by librarians working in specialized roles, such as digital scholarship. This study uses a mixed-methods approach to examine the level of technostress experienced by librarians working in digital scholarship at Association of Research Libraries institutions. Results of the study indicate that technostress, as measured by a validated technostress instrument, is not a major affliction on this population; however, results point to organizational factors that work to exasperate feelings of role overload and burnout for librarians working in this field. Recommendations for organizational changes to help mitigate these feelings for librarians and library managers are discussed.

Introduction

Digital scholarship services have grown rapidly in academic libraries. Neat definitions of digital scholarship are not easily found, but the field can be described as one that promotes methods of inquiry that are increasingly technology-oriented, often mediated by digital tools and software, collaborative, and public facing. Digital scholarship projects include digitization and digital preservation of archives and special collections, metadata creation and enhancement for linked data, exchange, and reuse (Vinopal & McCormick, 2013). Digital scholarship is also reliant on computation, such as in the practice of text mining and analysis and geographic information systems (GIS) projects, digital humanities support and research, programming, and web development (Hensley & Bell, 2017).

Clearly, the specialization is vast, taking many forms. As Cox (2016) suggests, “These roles have represented a fundamental shift for libraries toward publishing of digital content and active participation in research projects” (p.133). Given the uptick in digital methodology for teaching and research among faculty and graduate students, libraries have acknowledged and acted upon a need to hire individuals that can facilitate and offer support for digital scholarship. Digital tools and methodologies have opened new pathways for innovative research and pedagogy. Part of the appeal of these tools and methods is that they are so diverse and oft changing, with subsequent iterations building on previous work and approaches. But the success and rapid uptake of digital scholarship is also a major challenge for librarians. As King (2018) argues, the digital shift in scholarship “changed radically how cultural heritage is made, disseminated, distributed, accessed, consumed, and monetized” (p. 1). To keep up with these “radical” changes, and in an effort to support scholars interested in experimenting with digital methods in their own work and teaching, libraries have implemented an array of new initiatives ranging from full scale centers to the addition of librarians focusing a percentage of their work-assignment to digital scholarship.

While often innovative, these roles include the added burden of managing, developing, and implementing new and emerging technologies. Given the technical and sometimes highly specialized nature of digital scholarship, this work is also often collaborative, stretching across multiple academic and professional units. In practice, this is a difficult balancing act to master that can lead to technological overburdening. This phenomenon has also been referred to as technostress (Brod, 1984). Studies concerning technostress in academic libraries have thus far focused on general use of common library technology, like integrated library systems, email, and digital workflow software. Studies have also considered levels of technostress involved with offering new digital or virtual services (Bichteler, 1987; Laspinas, 2015; Saunders, 1999), as well as the effect of technostress on reference librarians (Kupersmith, 1992; Rose et al., 1998). Although a substantial body of research has studied the impact of technostress on a variety of organizational populations, relatively little research has investigated the stress experienced by librarians, and virtually none on librarians with specialized roles. Technostress affects all library workers, but librarians who work at the intersection of digital technology and scholarship may face specific challenges related to their specialized duties. A cursory glance at the competencies and skills necessary for digital scholarship librarians reflects the flexibility and wide range of expertise necessary daily (King, 2018).

This article reports on findings from a mixed-methods study, made up of a survey instrument as well as semi-structured follow-up interviews, seeking to discover how academic librarians at Association of Research Libraries (ARL) working primarily in digital scholarship (defined broadly as digital initiatives, digital humanities, digital scholarship) are affected by technostress.