Technostress among Library Professionals:Possible Causes, Symptoms, Coping Strategies, and Future Proposals

Technostress is the feeling of anxiety or mental pressure caused by working with multiple and rapidly changing computer systems, and mediating between these systems and the demands of the organisation, users, and personal life. This study investigated the nature and extent of technostress, the factors causing technostress, and the effect of it on professional and social lives among the library professionals in India. The study further explored the coping strategies to deal with technostress and gives a proposal for using the positive technology approach for technostress prevention and management. The study was carried through an online survey, with a structured questionnaire designed on a Google Forms. A total of 500 respondents were selected for the study over four designated domains, viz. library assistants, assistant librarians, deputy librarians, and librarians or university librarians. Ten preferred causes and coping strategies, and eight identified physiological and psychological symptoms they are subjected to for this study. The findings of the study may be used to develop strategies and policies which may facilitate librarians to avoid, adapt to, or mitigate technostress.