College and Research Libraries Research Notes Attitudes toward Technology as Predictors of Online Catalog Usage Grant Noble and Steve O'Connor While other studies have concentrated on eval- uations of specific online public access catalog (OPAC) software, this study addresses the general acceptance of computer technology, as well as user attitudes toward OPACs. Ques- tionnaire data was subjected to factor and dis- criminant analyses in order to seek out predic- tors of future OPAC use. These analyses defined two distinct groups of respondents: the " reluctant OPAC user" and the "naive OPAC enthusiast." INTRODUCTION The uncritical acceptance of the various forms of electronic media in the last ten years has been a feature of libraries as well as the wider society. Where we have con- centrated on the specific application of technology, our enthusiasm for it may have blinded us to user reactions to the technology in general. James Adams of Stanford University's School of Engineering highlighted the di- lemma facing society today with respect to computers: We will no doubt be subjected to continued fear of technology because of the resulting uncer- tainty and danger . We will also probably be- come increasingly dependent upon technol- ogy. A Society split into practitioners of technology who are ignorant of human con- cerns and non-practitioners who are ignorant of technology can only result in a hazardous and unpleasant future. 1 The paradox of fear or distrust coexisting with increasing dependence is a dimen- sion of technological change that needs to be closely examined. This view finds research support in sem- inal studies such as Lee's, which set out to examine popular beliefs and attitudes to- ward the "electronic computer." Lee found two independent belief-attitudes toward the computer through a series of Likert-scale questions. The first viewed the computer as an instrument of human purposes, while the second portrayed it as a relatively autonomous entity. 2 Lee's study was replicated in Australia by Morrison in 1983 with a sample of stu- dents at the University of New England. Morrison indicated that his findings dif- fered from Lee's and that "the largest amount of variance is explained not by the 'beneficial tool' factor as in Lee's study but by a factor representing negative attitudes toward the possible disemploying and de- humanising effects of computers and fears for their reliability and power over the lives of individuals. '' 3 Zoltan and Chapanis undertook a study Gran t Noble is associate professor of psychology at the Uni versity of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, while Steve O'Connor is associate libra rian at th e University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Aus- tralia. 605 606 College & Research Libraries in 1982 to investigate the attitude of pro- fessional groups in Baltimore toward com- puters. A number of factors were repre- sented in an analysis of the data from the sixty-four-item questionnaire distributed to these accountants, lawyers, pharma- cists, and physicians. Factor one bore a close resemblance to Lee's ''beneficial tool of man" perspective; factor two was seen as accounting for the dehumanizing, de- personalizing, impersonal, cold, and un- forgiving effects of computers. The re- maining factors displayed positive attitudes. 4 The literature examining the introduc- tion and acceptance of the Online Public Access Catalog (OP AC) in libraries has been wide and detailed. Many aspects of OP AC have been discussed, but no atten- tion has been paid to an emerging litera- ture assessing attitudes toward technol- ogy and its potential impact on OPAC. The earlier (1981-2) exploratory studies of Carole Weiss Moore, Pritchard, Paw- ley, and Norden and Lawrence, all con- tributed to our understanding of OP AC acceptance. 5 But the studies sponsored by the Council on Library Resources, Inc., (CLR) provided the major research thrust in OPAC study. 6 The CLR research found that over 90 percent of users thought the OPAC systems to be acceptable and that nonusers liked it almost as much. One of the goals of the present study was to in- vestigate those factors that affect user ac- ceptance of OPAC systems. Previous studies have concentrated on evaluating attitudes toward specific computer sys- tems rather than the computer technol- ogy. It has been previously assumed that acceptance of the specific technology im- plies acceptance of the technology in gen- eral. BASIS OF THIS STUDY With the introduction of OP AC (with VTLS software) to the Dixson Library, University of New England (New South Wales, Australia) in March 1984, a ques- tionnaire was established to examine not only user reaction to the VTLS system but also attitudes toward computer technol- ogy. The survey questionnaire was ad- ministered online, on the same terminal as the catalog software. Each of the questions November 1986 assessing attitudes toward technology was scored on a Likert scale. The survey data were collected over a period of three weeks in April and attracted 271 valid sets ·· of responses. Each user of the online cata- log was invited to respond to the question- naire, which they were able to access upon entering an appropriate command. Ap- proximately one-third of response sets were eliminated because they were in- complete or had fixed responses (e.g., A,A,A,A). Since reports on the usage of this OP AC installation have been pub- lished elsewhere7' 8' 9 the aim of the present paper is to relate both positive and nega- tive attitudes toward computer technol- ogy in general to acceptance and evalua- tion of the specific technology of the VTLS OPAC. Some fifteen questions in the forty- eight-item questionnaire elicited attitudes toward technology: 1. Computers are so amazing that they stagger your imagination. 2. There's something exciting and fasci- nating about electronic brain machines. 3. These machines can make important decisions better than people. 4. Computers will free people to do more interesting and imaginative work. 5. They are very important to the "man-in-space" program. 6. Computers can make serious mis- takes because they fail to take the human factor into account . 7. They can be used for evil purposes if they fall into the wrong hands. 8. There is no limit to what these com- puters can do. 9. They will help bring about a better way of life for the average person. 10. With these machines, the individual person will not count for very much any- more. 11. Books offer more opportunity than do computers for creative involvement. 12. In the library computer, records are more reliable than card/microfiche rec- ords. 13. Computer systems constantly refuse to trust their users. 14. Computer systems are pro- grammed to act as if they always know what is best. 15. Computers have their own minds, which the user is powerless to alter. These questions had been drawn from the seminal study by Lee10 and also from the research by Marvin and Winther. 11 The remainder of the questions assessed vari- ous aspects of the OP A C. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Attitudes Toward Technology The questions about attitude toward technology were submitted to factor anal- ysis to assess the extent of positive and negative attitudes toward computer tech- nology. Using the varimax rotation method, a factor analysis was performed with the specification of two output fac- tors. Only those items having factor load- ings with a value greater than .30 were treated as being significant. The factor explaining the largest per- centage of variance (17. 9 percent-factor 1-showed characteristics of distrust of computer technology. As the factor load- ings in table 1 show, elements of this dis- Research Notes 607 trust were that ''computers refuse to trust their users; computers are programmed to always know what is best; computers have their own minds, which the user is powerless to alter; and computers make serious mistakes because they fail to take the human factor into account." Factor 2, explaining 13.9 percent of the variance, displayed characteristics of positive accep- tance of the technology. This was ex- pressed in attitudes such as: "computers will bring about a better life for the average person; computers will free people to do more interesting and imaginative work; there is something exciting about elec- tronic brain machines; and computers are so amazing that they stagger your imagi- nation.'' It is important to note that respondents in this study display a wide range of atti- tudes toward technology, as measured by factor scores. Inspection of ''distrust'' fac- tor scores, for example, revealed that 46 percent of respondents obtained negative TABLE 1 FACTOR ANALYSIS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD TECHNOLOGY Factor 2 Factor 1 Positive Distrust Acceptance Variables Factor Factor Mean s.d. 14. Computers constantly refuse to trust their users . 0.632 0.065 5.044 1.794 15. Computer systems are programmed to act as if they al- ways know what is best . 0.632 -0.094 4.487 2.058 16. Computers have their own minds, which the user is pow- erless to alter . 0.614 0.055 5.730 1.867 11. With these machines, the individual will not count for much anymore. 0.607 -0.335 5.509 1.738 7. Computers can make serious mistakes because they fail to take the human factor into account. · 0.555 -0.007 4.077 2.227 8. They can be used for evil purposes if they fall into the wrong hands. 0.407 0.051 3.099 1.940 12. Books offer more opportunity than do computers for crea- tive involvement. 0.385 -0.298 3.734 1.886 4. These machines can make important decisions better than Leohle. 0.325 0.318 5.811 1.524 13. n t e library computer, records are more reliable than card/microfiche records. 0.168 0.161 2.970 1.798 10. They will bring about a better way of life for the average -0.320 terson. 0.626 3.221 1.691 5. omputers will free people to do more interesting and -0.199 0.615 2.664 1.695 imagmative work. 3. There's something exciting and fascinating about elec- tronic brain machines . 0.052 0.613 3.188 1.765 2. Computers are so amazing that they stagger your imagi- nation. · 0.277 0.567 4.011 2.057 9. There is no limit to what these computers can do. 0.320 0.484 5.416 1.899 6. They are very important to the "man-in-space" program . -0.073 0.280 1.778 1.218 Eigenvalues 2.678 2.088 Percent of variance 17.9 13.9 608 College & Research Libraries factor scores. Moreover, 19 percent of re- spondents' distrust factor scores were greater than - 1, and 18 percent were greater than + 1. It is therefore clear that distrust attitudes were reasonably nor- mally distributed in the present sample. It is particularly ironic that such widely varying attitudes toward technology were displayed by the same respondents who also recorded a high, 95.6 percent accep- tance of the OPAC. This contrasting evi- dence is a matter of great concern for those involved in the introduction of new tech- nologies such as the OP A C. Concentra- tion in the literature has been exclusively on the acceptance of the software with lit- tle or no attention being paid to the tech- November 1986 nology;' 'the literature of library and infor- mation science is still concentrated on the technological ramification of various sys- tems. " 12 This survey clearly indicates that both positive and negative attitudes to- ward technology exist in this survey group. Predicting Future Usage: The Impact of the Distrust Factor It was obviously desirable to test further and determine whether there was any re- lationship between attitudes of technol- ogy distrust and future use of the specific OPAC system. To do this the OPAC eval- uation data was subjected to discriminant analysis to contrast th.ose who ?istrusted TABLE2 RESULTS OF DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS OF PAC ACCEPTANCE DIVIDED BY "DISTRUST" ATTITUDES TOWARD TECHNOLOGY Standardized Canonical Discriminant Function Group 1 Group 2 Coefficient: Negative Positive F Reluctant Variables Mean s .d . Mean S.d . d£(1 /32) p User 17. Mb first PAC search was looking for (a ook, journal, etc.). 2.977 1.876 2.430 1.455 4.879 0.028 0.193 19. My overall attitude to PAC is ... 1.516 0.708 1.247 0.544 1.560 0.213 0.286 20 . How likely are you to use PAC in the future? 1.325 0.703 1.032 0.177 15.19 0.0001 0.441 23. Remembering the correct waft to en- ter a subject search is difficu t. 3.269 1.535 3.838 1.393 6.865 0.009 -0.165 24. Rememberinf search commands in the middle o a search is easy. 2.887 1.274 2.354 1.315 7.691 0.006 0.277 25. Findinft the correct subject term is difficu t. 2.943 1.456 3.365 1.231 4.463 0.036 -0.124 34. Access to a~rinter would be a useful feature of AC. 2.067 1.670 1.580 1.024 5.667 0.018 0.298 39. Which catalog is superior to learn without assistance? 2.786 1.027 3.150 1.062 5.511 0.020 -0.304 41. I use the library (da~, weekly, etc.). 2.370 1.495 2.924 1.758 5.220 0.023 -0.077 42. I would usethisPA (daily, weekly, etc.). 2.044 0.796 1.612 0.692 15.30 0.0001 0.373 43 . I use com~uter terminals other than library's daily, weekly, etc.). 4.303 1.891 3.526 2.003 7.216 0.007 0.259 45. My age group is . .. 2.415 1.286 2.858 1.125 5.586 0.019 -0.335 46. My sex is ... 1.393 0.491 1.258 0.439 3.832 0.051 0.168 18. My first search was satisfactory, etc. 1.887 1.081 1.688 1.073 1.560 0.213 -0.275 26. Understanding the HELP screen is difficult. 3.797 1.478 3.892 1.330 0.206 0.649 0.235 30. Limiting search by language. 3.662 1.864 3.666 1.952 0.0001 0.989 -0.278 38 . Which catalog is superior for finding books on a toEic? 3.561 0.582 3.645 0.775 0.477 0.490 0.218 Scoring Key : 17: Scores are not in a continuum . 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 34: Low score=agree/helpful; High score=disagree/unhelpful. 38, 39: Low score=care/microfiche superior; High score=PAC superior. 18, 19, 20, 41, 42,43 : Low score = more use; High score=less use . 45 : Low scores=younger; High score = older. 48: Low score=arts and humanities; High score=economics/accounting . the computer technology (group 1-top one-third of factor 1 output scores) with those who positively accepted the com- puter technology (group 2-bottom one- third of factor 2 output scores), in order to determine whether these attitudes could predict future OPAC usage. Table 2 summarizes the results of this discriminant functions analysis. Looking at those variables that are most important in discriminating between high- and low- distrust groups (variables with standard- ized canonical discriminant function coef- ficients greater than .25), the analysis indicates that those who distrust and are suspicious of the computer technology would have less use for the OP AC in the future (question 20); find ·difficulty in re- membering search commands (question 24); not use the OP AC on every visit to the library (question 42); use other computer Research Notes 609 terminals quite infrequently (question 43); and are generally in the older group ( ques- tion 45). Ironically, they see the OPAC as being easier to learn without assistance (question 39). This discriminant function has been characterized as being one of the "reluctant OPAC user." Conversely, those who had a positive acceptance of computer technology could be expected to display a different attitude toward the OP A C. Again, the OP AC eval- uation data were subjected to discrimi- nant analysis in order to contrast those who did have a positive acceptance of the technology (group 1-top one-third of fac- tor 2 output scores) with those who did not (group 2-bottom one-third of factor 2 out- put scores). Table 3 reveals that those with a positive acceptance of the technology find the use of Boolean search logic to be helpful (question 33); are more frequent TABLE 3 RESULTS OF DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS OF PAC ACCEPTANCE DIVIDED BY "POSITIVE ACCEPTANCE" ATTITUDES Group 1 Group 2 Negative Positive F Variables Mean s.d. Mean s.d. d£(1 /26) p 27. Searching bh words in a title useful 2.122 1.520 2.849 1.933 7.967 0.005 28. Searching y words in a subject heading is useful. 1.933 1.330 2.720 1.843 10.90 0.001 26 . Understanding HELP screen is diffi- cult. 3.755 1.424 3.655 0.773 1.091 0.297 29. Limiting search results by publica- tion date . 2.822 1.686 3.505 1.827 6.894 0.009 30. Limiting search results b~ language. 3.266 1.871 3.903 1.900 5.211 0.023 32. Ability to search a boo 's table of contents would be a useful feature . 1.533 1.182 1.946 1.513 4.211 0.041 33. Abili~ to use Boolean search logic waul be a useful feature . 3.088 1.981 3.903 2.048 7.465 0.006 35. Which catalog is superior in terms of ~d? 3.766 0.654 3.655 0.773 1.091 0.297 39. ch catalog is superior for learn- in~ without assistance? 2.933 1.014 3.053 1.035 0.630 0.428 40. W ich catalog is superior for pre- paring a comprehensive bibliogra- 3.655 0.721 3.408 0.837 4.557 0.034 fhy? 41 . use the library . .. 3.022 1.767 2.344 1.463 8.016 0.005 42. I would use th1s PAC. .. 1.688 0.713 1.924 0.769 4.616 0.033 45. My age group is ... 2.844 1.226 2.473 1.079 4.736 0.030 46. My subject area of study is . .. 3.044 1.871 2.096 1.429 14.87 0.0002 Scoring Key: 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33: Low scores=agree/helpful; High score-disagree/unhelpful. 35, 39, 40: Low score-card/microfiche superior; High score=PAC superior. 41, 42: Low score=more use; High score= less use. 45 : Low score=younger; High score=older. 46 : Low score=arts; High score=economics . Standardized Canonical Discriminant Function Coefficient: Naive PAC Enthusiast 0.083 -0.235 0.218 -0.158 -0.108 0.175 -0 .284 0.218 0.290 0.224 0.327 -0.145 0.323 0.647 610 College & Research Libraries users of the library (question 41); are in the younger age group (question 45); and are students of arts and humanities (question 46), yet they find the card or microfiche catalogs easier to learn without assistance (question 39) . This classification can be characterised as the "naive" OPAC en- thusiast.'' CONCLUSION It is clear from the study that although library users, at one level, can give a spe- cific technology a very high acceptance, the same users can, at another level, ex- hibit contrasting attitudes toward com- puter technology in general. This view of new computer technology has not been subject to intense investigation and yet may have far-reaching implications for li- brary managers and practitioners. November 1986 These attitudes of distrust and positive acceptance can be predictors of acceptance and future usage of OPACs. The "reluc- tant OP AC user'' needs to be more closely understood. Computer literacy programs need to be closely examined if OPAC suc- cess is to be assured in the long term. For different reasons, a similar solution or approach may be applied to the ''naive OPAC enthusiast" who is keen on the me- dium but has yet to realize the actual capa- bilities of the OPAC. Adams13 clearly sees that unless we are careful, users could become increasingly suspicious of the technology while becom- ing more dependent on it. These dimen- sions are evident in the present research and demand close attention in order to consolidate OP AC' s place in the modern academic library. REFERENCES 1. J. Adams, "Emergence of New Technological Priesthood, " Campus Report, Stanford University, Sept. 5, 1984, p.4. 2. R. S . Lee, "Social Attitudes and the Computer Revolution," Public Opinion Quarterly 34:53- 59 (1970). 3. P. R. Morrison, "A Survey of Attitudes toward Computers," Communication of the ACM 26, no.12:1051-57 (Dec. 1983). 4. E. Zoltan and A. Chapanis, "What Do Professional Persons Think about Computers? " Behavior and Information Technology 1, no.1 :55-68 (1982) . 5. C. W. Moore, "User Reaction to Online Catalogs: An Exploratory Study, " College & Research Li- braries 42, no.4:295-302 (July 1981); S. Pritchard, "Library of Congress SCORPIO User Survey," as cited in Moore; C. Pawley, "Online Access: User Reaction," Cqllege & Research Libraries 43, no.6:473-77 (Nov. 1982); D . J. Norden and G. H . Lawrence, "Public Terminal Use in an Online Catalogue: Some Preliminary Results," College & Research Libraries 42, no.4:308-16 (July 1981). 6. University of California, Division of Library Automation and Library Research and Analysis Group, Users Look at Online Catalogs: Results of a Nationwide Survey of Users and Non-users of Online Public Access Catalogues (Berkeley, Calif. : Office of the Asst. Vice-President-Library Plans and Poli- cies, University of California Systemwide Administration, 1982) . 7. S. V . O'Connor, " 'Learning a Living': Attitudes toward and Acceptance of Public Access Cata- logues," Australian Academic and Research Libraries 15, no.3 :143- 56 (Sept. 1984) . ' 8. . "Public Access Catalogues-Research on User Attitudes and Catalogue Content, '' pa- per presented to the Reference Post, LAA Conference, Brisbane, Sept . 1, 1984 (Bundoora, Victoria, LaTrobe University Library, 1985). 9. . "User Attitude toward and Acceptance of the Public Access Catalogue" (Prelimjnary master's thesis, University of New England) . 10. Lee, p.53-59 . 11. C. Marvin and M . Winther, "Computer-ease: A Twentieth-century Literacy Emergent, " Journal of Communication 33, no.1: 92-108 (Winter 1983) . 12. J. N. Olsgaard, "Automation as a Socio-organizational Agent of Change: An Evaluation Litera- ture Review," Information Technology and Libraries 4, no .1:19-28 (Mar. 1985) . 13 . 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