Technostress in Librarians: An Evaluation in the Context of Transactional Stress Theory

Öz

Technostress, which is a sub-dimension of stress, is the cognitive, physical and psychological negative effects of the use of technology on people directly or indirectly. If this situation, which usually occurs associated with anxiety, is not resolved, it causes restlessness, judgement errors, low work performance and many similar problems. While information and communication technologies, which are widely used in almost every field of life today and whose speed and diversity are increasing day by day, facilitate transactions by saving labour and time, it also can create technostress. The purpose of this study is to examine technostress and the factors that trigger technostress in a theoretical framework; to discuss the transactional stress theory, which is based on the fact that individual differences cause stressors/stress stimuli to be perceived as threats or, conversely, as opportunities; and to address the technostress experienced by librarians with its causes and coping strategy suggestions in the context the said theory. In this study, document analysis, which is a qualitative research method, was used and the data of the study were obtained from domestic and foreign literature. The reason why foreign literature is mainly used is that this issue is not sufficiently addressed in the domestic literature. Within the scope of the study, firstly the concept of stress and stress theories as they ground technostress, and then the concept of technostress with its historical background is examined. The study also addresses this problem in an organisational context in order to make the issue understandable for libraries as educational, cultural and social institutions. Subsequently, this concept is handled within the framework of transactional stress theory, as it is considered to be an important theory for coping with technostress. The main theme of the study, technostress in librarians and their ways of coping, is discussed by giving examples from the literature, again within the framework of transactional stress theory, and the study is completed with conclusions and recommendations. The study is unique due to the fact that the subject has not been analysed in a similar way in the domestic literature.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Stress
• technostress
• Transactional Stress Theory
• information and communication technologies
• librarians.

Kütüphanecilerde Teknostres: Transaksiyonel Stres Kuramı Bağlamında Bir Değerlendirme

Öz

Stresin bir alt boyutu olan teknostres, teknoloji kullanımının insan üzerinde doğrudan veya dolaylı biçimde oluşturduğu bilişsel, fiziksel ve ruhsal olumsuz etkidir. Kaygı ile beraber gelişen bu durum çözümlenmediği durumda, huzursuzluk, muhakeme hataları, düşük iş performansı ve benzeri birçok soruna neden olmaktadır. Günümüzde hemen her alanda kullanımı yaygınlaşan ve hızı ile çeşitliliği gittikçe artan bilgi ve iletişim teknolojileri, bir taraftan iş gücü ve zamandan tasarruf ile işlemlerin kolaylaşmasını sağlarken, bir taraftan da teknostresi yaratabilmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı teknostres ile teknostresi tetikleyen etmenleri kuramsal bir çerçevede irdelemek; bireysel farklılıkların stresörleri/stres uyaranlarını tehdit ya da tersine fırsat olarak algılamaya neden olması üzerine temellendirilen Transaksiyonel Stres Kuramı’nın tartışılması ve söz konusu kuramla ilişkilendirerek kütüphanecilerin yaşadığı teknostresi nedenleri ve başa çıkma önerileri ile beraber ele almaktır. Çalışmada nitel bir araştırma yöntemi olan doküman analizi kullanılmış ve çalışmanın dayandığı veriler yerli ve yabancı literatürden elde edilmiştir. Ağırlıklı olarak yabancı literatürden yararlanılmasının nedeni yerli literatürde bu konunun yeterince ele alınmamış olmasıdır. Çalışma kapsamında önce teknostresi temellendirdiği için stres kavramı, stres kuramları ve daha sonra tarihsel arka planı ile beraber teknostres kavramı irdelenmektedir. Çalışmada, ayrıca, eğitsel, kültürel ve sosyal kurumlar olan kütüphanelerde yaşanan teknostresin örgüt boyutunda anlaşılması için bu sorun örgütsel bağlamda da ele alınmaktadır. Daha sonra, teknostresle başa çıkmada önemli bir kuram olduğu düşünüldüğünden, bu kavram Transaksiyonel Stres Kuramı çerçevesinde tartışılmaktadır. Çalışmanın ana teması olan kütüphanecilerde teknostres ve başa çıkma yolları, literatürden örnekler verilerek ve yine Transaksiyonel Stres Kuramı çerçevesinde tartışıldıktan sonra, sonuç ve öneriler ile çalışma tamamlanmaktadır. Çalışma, konunun özellikle yerli literatürde benzeri biçimde incelenmemiş olması nedeniyle özgündür.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Stres
• teknostres
• Transaksiyonel Stres Kuramı
• bilgi ve iletişim teknolojileri
• kütüphaneciler

Kaynakça

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