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This paper reviews the major publications by Qun G. Jiao and Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie that chronicles the development of empirical research conducted on the construct of library anxiety among college students in the United States during the past decade. It also examines the sizeable contribution that these two researchers have made to the body of knowledge of this emerging field of study in library and information science. The paper concludes by encouraging more researchers to continue the work of Jiao and Onwuegbuzie by examining further this widespread and pervasive phenomenon.

The present study examined the relationship between library anxiety and social interdependence. Participants were 115 graduate students from various disciplines who were administered the Library Anxiety Scale (LAS) and the Social Interdependence Scale (SIS). The LAS assesses levels of library anxiety. The SIS measures individuals’ cooperative, competitive, and individualistic perceptions. The higher the score on each of the three SIS subscales, the more cooperative, the more competitive, or the more individualistic the respondents consider themselves to be. Scores on these scales are relatively independent so that a student could conceivably receive a high score on all three scales. A canonical correlation analysis (R_c = 0.41) revealed that cooperative attitudes were related significantly to barriers with staff, comfort with the library, and knowledge of the library. Individualistic attitudes, affective barriers, and mechanical barriers served as suppressor variables. Implications are discussed.

Because the main purpose of libraries is to serve as an avenue for obtaining a multitude of text in various forms, and reading is the key activity undertaken by library users, it is likely that students with the poorest reading skills are the most uncomfortable in a library research setting. Yet, surprisingly, no research exists investigating the relationship between levels of reading ability and library anxiety. This was the purpose of the present inquiry. Specifically, the current study examined the relationship between reading comprehension and reading vocabulary and five dimensions of library anxiety (namely, barriers with staff, affective barriers, comfort with the library, knowledge of the library, and mechanical barriers). Participants were 45 African‐American graduate students from various disciplines. They were administered the Library Anxiety Scale and the Nelson‐Denny Reading Test. A canonical correlation analysis (R_c=0.39) revealed that reading comprehension and reading vocabulary were related statistically significant to barriers with staff, comfort with the library, and knowledge of the library. Implications are discussed.

This study was conducted to identify graduate students’ predominant study habit strengths and weaknesses as well as to examine empirically the relationship between specific study habits and library anxiety. Participants were 133 graduate students in the field of education at a university in the southeast of the USA. These individuals were administered the study habits inventory (SHI) and the library anxiety scale (LAS). Findings revealed that students’ responses to 62.9 per cent of the 63 study habit statements in the SHI were indicative of appropriate study habits. Study habit weaknesses were identified in the areas of note‐taking and reading skills. An all possible subsets multiple regression analysis led to the identification of eight specific study behaviours that predicted levels of library anxiety. These study habits explained 45.8 per cent of the variance in library anxiety, which, using Cohen’s criteria, represents a large effect size. Implications for library anxiety reduction as a study habits intervention are discussed.

Research suggests that learning preference is an antecedent of statistics anxiety and research anxiety experienced by graduate students. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between learning preferences and the following antecedents of library anxiety: “barriers with staff”, “affective barriers”, “comfort with the library”, “knowledge of the library”, and “mechanical barriers” among graduate students. Participants were 203 graduate students enrolled in a research methodology course. A series of setwise regression analyses revealed that the following 13 learning environmental preferences were related to one or more of these antecedents: noise preference, persistence orientation, responsibility, structure, peer orientation, authority orientation, multiple perceptual orientation, visual orientation, tactile orientation, kinesthetic orientation, morning preference, afternoon preference, and mobility preference. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The prevalence of library anxiety among college students has been acknowledged by librarians and educators for over a decade. However, there are still people who question whether library anxiety is a real phenomenon. The importance of library anxiety among graduate students is particularly challenged. This study examined the relationship between library anxiety and trait anxiety of 115 graduate students in the United States. Findings revealed that trait anxiety was not significantly related to any of the five dimensions of library anxiety, suggesting that library anxiety is a unique, independent phenomenon. Therefore, library anxiety should be taken seriously. An action‐research approach to addressing library anxiety was recommended.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent that cooperative group members' levels of library anxiety, operationalized as barriers with staff, affective barriers, comfort with the library, knowledge of the library and mechanical barriers, predict: group performance, namely, the quality of an article critique assignment and research proposal assignment; and the degree that heterogeneity (namely, variability of the five library anxiety dimensions) is related to this outcome variable.

Participants were 107 postgraduate students enrolled in a research methodology course at a mid‐southern university in the USA. Groups (n = 1) formed the unit of analysis. An all possible subsets multiple regression analysis was used to identify an optimal combination of library anxiety variables that predicted the group performance score.

It was found that cooperative learning groups attaining the lowest scores on the article critique and research proposal assignments combined tended to report the least variation with respect to barriers with staff and knowledge of the library, and the greatest variation with respect to affective barriers. These variables explained 41.8 per cent of the variance in performance, suggesting that library anxiety plays a role in the cooperative learning group process.

This study is based on a relatively small sample of postgraduate students from one university. Replications of this study with larger samples from different universities are needed to help validate the findings.

The findings may help academic librarians and educators who work with postgraduate or adult students better understand the debilitating effects of library anxiety on these students' academic performance.

To date, no research has investigated levels of library anxiety on the performance of cooperative learning groups.

This study compared the five subscale scores and total scale scores of the Library Anxiety Scale from 135 Caucasian‐American and 45 African‐American graduate students. Findings indicated that the Caucasian‐American sample reported significantly higher levels of library anxiety associated with three of the five subscales than did the African‐American sample. A canonical discriminant analysis also revealed significant differences between the two racial groups, with Caucasian‐American graduate students reporting significantly higher levels of library anxiety associated with the same three subscales than their African‐American counterparts. These findings suggest that race appears to be a predictor of library anxiety levels. The implications of the findings on academic library services and future research are discussed.

The relationship between seven dimensions of self‐perception and five dimensions of library anxiety was studied using canonical correlation analyses. Participants were 148 students enrolled in graduate‐level research methodology courses. The first canonical function revealed that students with the lowest level of self‐perception associated with perceived scholastic competence, perceived intellectual ability, perceived creativity, and perceived social acceptance tended to have the highest level of library anxiety related to affective barriers and comfort with the library. A comparison of the standardized and structure coefficients suggested that perceived self‐worth, barriers with staff, and mechanical barriers served as suppressor variables that assisted in the prediction of library anxiety. Implications of the findings are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the citation error rate and quality of reference lists in doctoral dissertation proposals. This research also sought to examine the relationship between perfectionism and frequency of citation errors and the adherence of the reference list to the fidelity of the chosen citation style among doctoral students. Also of interest was to determine which demographic variables predict citation errors and quality of the reference list.

Participants were 64 doctoral students from various disciplines enrolled in a graduate‐level, dissertation preparatory course at a large southeastern university in the USA.

Findings indicated that graduate students with relatively high levels of self‐oriented perfectionism and other‐oriented perfectionism tended to commit the least citation errors and construct reference lists that departed the furthest from the citation style stipulations. Participants’ dissertation proposals, on average, contained more than 12 missing or inconsistent citations. This indicated that for every three citations included, one of them represented some type of error. Regression analyses revealed that: students with the lowest expectation levels tended to commit the highest rate of citation errors; and students who have taken the most courses in their graduate programs tended to receive the lowest scores pertaining to the quality of reference lists.

These findings suggest a need for more formal and more deliberate approaches for all instructors to instill in students the importance of avoiding citation errors.

To date, no research has investigated the role that perfectionism plays in relation to the commission of bibliographic citation errors.