The effect of librarians’ digital skills on technology acceptance in academic libraries in Jordan

• Published in: Journal of librarianship and information science 2021-12, Vol.53 (4), p.589-600
• Main Authors: Hamad, Faten, Al-Fadel, Maha, Fakhouri, Hussam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic libraries; Digital literacy; Information professionals; Librarians; Technology Acceptance Model
• ISSN: 0961-0006; 1741-6477
• DOI: 10.1177/0961000620966644

Digital skills are necessary to work and manage electronic library infrastructures and services. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for assessing the level of digital skills among librarians at academic libraries in Jordan. It is also important to investigate the influence of digital skills on technology acceptance among librarians in Jordan. A questionnaire was developed and used to collect the required data from university libraries in Jordan. The results indicate a high level of digital skills among the librarians. The result also shows that financial issues are the main challenges that librarians face to obtain the required skills. Most importantly, the level of digital skills positively influences the librarians’ acceptance and use of technology in academic libraries in Jordan. It was noted that factors such as sex, age, experience, specialization, and library type had no effect on the results. Findings of this research will help to explore the skills and competencies needed by information professionals and act as a guideline for competency development and curriculum updates in Librarianship and Information Science schools at an international level.