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Applying the technology acceptance model to Iranian engineering faculty libraries Fatemeh Sheikhshoaei Department of Medical Library and Information Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, and
Technology acceptance model 367 Received January 2010 Accepted January 2010
Tahereh Oloumi Department of Library and Information Sciences, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this research is to study the determinant factors in the acceptance of information technology (IT) by librarians in the libraries of engineering faculties of public universities in Tehran. Design/methodology/approach – The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is used as the research framework and the applicability of this model on the research population is studied. The constructs of TAM include its perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward use, and the intention to use IT. These are the independent variables that affect the dependent variable of IT use. The first six hypotheses of the research have been based on inter-relationships between each pair of variables in the TAM. The applicability of the TAM model on the population of librarians is the seventh hypothesis. The survey method was applied for collecting data, using a questionnaire. The studied population included 160 librarians and the questionnaire was sent to all of them. Findings – The research findings indicate that all independent variables in the framework of TAM affect the acceptance of IT, but the final results (R ¼ 0.033 for Model) indicate that the applicability of the TAM model to study this group is weak. Originality/value – There is a lack of research of the acceptance of IT using the TAM model in Iranian organizations and libraries, as well as in libraries and in library science around the world. Keywords Communication technologies, Customer satisfaction, Librarians, Academic libraries, Iran Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction The computerization of Iranian library services started with the recording of the central library collection of Ahvaz University on 80-column punch cards in the middle of the 1970s. However, at the end of this decade, the application of new information technologies (IT) was delayed as the result of social and economical problems caused by the Islamic Revolution and eight years of imposed war. Nowadays, however, the importance of university libraries is acknowledged by top officials, and a part of the budget for IT applications in public organizations has been allocated to them. The The authors would like to acknowledge and extend their heartfelt gratitude to Dr Alidousti (Assistant Professor in IranDOC), Dr Carol de Groot, and Dr Jamali for their support and encouragement, which have made the completion of this research possible.
The Electronic Library Vol. 29 No. 3, 2011 pp. 367-378 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0264-0473 DOI 10.1108/02640471111141106
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availability of funding gradually increased the number of university libraries that use IT – a trend that continues today. In spite of the potential benefits of IT applications for these libraries, they are now faced with diverse problems: personal, organizational, cultural and social. Therefore, research in this field is essential. The personal factors, including the employees’ attitudes towards IT and their demographic features are considered to be the factors that have the greatest impact on the use of IT services and applications. Regarding the potential role of humans in developing information services and also the usage of libraries, recognizing the importance of personal factors can result in an increase in the use of IT applications and finally, contribute to the development of the organization (Nakhoda, 2005). According to a study performed in this field (Dillon and Morris, 1996), researchers have used a number of different models and approaches to review the potential factors influencing the acceptance of IT. Among these models, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is one of most valid because it studies factors on a personal level rather than on an organizational level. TAM has been used extensively in research in many countries around the world and its applicability has been studied. Like the research done in other countries, this study uses the TAM as a research framework to explore the applicability of the model. 2. Technology acceptance model The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was introduced by F.D. Davis in 1986 in his PhD thesis based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) for modelling of the acceptance of IT by users (cited in Davis et al., 1989). This conceptual model has been developed to study the factors on computer acceptance by users and is considered as an appropriate model for studies at a personal level. The basis comprises two factors: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Perceived usefulness (U) is defined as the prospective user’s subjective probability that using a specific application will increase his or her job performance within an organizational context. The more an application improves their effectiveness in an organizational field, the more it is considered to be helpful. Perceived ease of use (E), on the other hand, refers to the degree to which the prospective user expects the target system to be free of effort. Therefore, the less time needed to learn to use the applications, the more they are used (Davis et al., 1989; Amoako-Gyampah and Salam, 2003; Klopping and McKinney, 2004). These two factors have a great impact on peoples’ attitudes towards the use of IT. The external factors contain social and organizational factors, the features of computer systems such as software and hardware, the approach to training and also the support of other people in applying the computer systems. These factors all have potential effects on users’ attitudes towards the usefulness and the ease of use of IT (Davis et al., 1989). 3. Research hypotheses In this study, the factors included in the TAM include the perceptions of librarians of the usefulness of IT applications for performing library-related activities and also their ease of use, their attitudes towards the IT application, their decision to apply them in this field and finally, their use of IT to perform related activities. In this research, the
external factors of this model were not included, in order to limit the extent of the research. A total of seven research hypotheses are posed on the constructive factors of the TAM, the relationship between these factors and also their general structure (Figure 1): H1. There is a positive and meaningful relationship between librarians’ perceived usefulness of IT and their attitudes towards the use of IT.
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H2. There is a positive and meaningful relationship between librarians’ perceived usefulness of IT and the decision to use IT. H3. There is a positive and meaningful relationship between librarians’ perceived ease of use of IT and their attitudes towards the use of IT. H4. There is a positive and meaningful relationship between librarians’ perceived ease of use and their perception of the usefulness of IT. H5. There is a positive and meaningful relationship between librarians’ attitudes towards the use of IT and the decision to use it. H6. There is a positive and meaningful relationship between librarians’ decision to use IT and the use of it. H7. The TAM is very suitable to study the determinant factors in the acceptance of IT in university libraries. 4. Review of the literature Researchers use available, valid models and patterns to study the existing issues in their field and there are some models in the technology acceptance field that are highly regarded in research, including the TAM, the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Socio-technical Systems Theory of Acceptance (Dillon and Morris, 1996). The TAM was first developed and applied in North America and its use was gradually extended to other countries around the world. Legris et al. (2003) have reviewed research done with this model and defined its value for understanding the use of IT. Their findings show that this model can predict about 40 percent of the factors that influence the use of IT. Next, is an outline of some of the research performed in the USA and other countries using this model, and in particular, some uses of the model in the area of library and information science.
Figure 1. The research model
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Davis et al. (1989) were the first to introduce the TAM and the theory of reasoned action in the USA. Later, they used TAM to study the potential factors influencing the acceptance and use of word processing software among 107 students. Their findings show that the students’ perceived usefulness of IT has a great and direct impact on their decision to use it, but that their perceived ease of use of the technology has less impact on this decision. Their results suggest that there are simple but powerful models of the determinants of user acceptance, with practical value for evaluating systems and guiding managerial interventions aimed at improving the use of computer technology. Also in the United States, Pan et al. (2003) focused their study on the effects of five independent variables (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitudes towards the use, subjective norms and computer self-efficacy) on a dependent variable named “the use of web city system”. They also studied the causal relationships among these variables. Their results suggest that the Technology Acceptance Model may not be applicable in a higher education setting and that only some of its factors impacted the acceptance of the “web city system”. That is to say, there were no casual relationships among the variables mentioned. Notably, only the students’ attitudes towards the use of “city web system” and some subjective norms were considered as defining factors in the use of this system. Al-Gahtani (2001) studied the application of the TAM in other cultures besides the United States and also the potential factors related to the acceptance of IT. The findings show that this model has been used effectively in England. Along with personal attitudes, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness were found by the model to be the most important factors affecting the acceptance of IT. In an earlier study, Rose and Straub (1998) looked at the application of the TAM in the Arab world in a survey about the growth of IT in developing countries. The findings show that this model is highly applicable for research in Arab countries. Spacey et al. (2004a) found that most research implemented in library and information sciences on the application of IT has been only qualitative or does not include casual regularity in the models used, while research in other fields did use a casual model like the TAM. A search for the TAM in Library Science databases revealed only the following papers. Thong et al. (2002), Vaidyanathan et al. (2005), and Park et al. (2009) have studied the potential factors affecting the acceptance of digital libraries among users using the TAM. In the research performed by Thong et al. (2002), three features for system interface and three organizational variables and three personal differences (essentially external factors) were identified, which would affect the perceived usefulness, the ease of use and the decision to use IT in this field. The findings also show that both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are the defining factors in users’ acceptance of digital libraries. In the research performed by Vaidyanathan et al. (2005), five systematic and individual factors – search function; terminology, relevance, design and display, and reliability – were considered as external factors which have significant effects on perceived ease-of-use and perceived usefulness of digital libraries which in turn have a significant effect on individual user acceptance. In the recent research performed by Park et al. (2009) the factors that influence people’s adoption and use of a digital library system were examined and the
applicability of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in the context of developing countries was tested. Using data from a survey of 16 institutions in Africa, Asia and Central/Latin America (n ¼ 1,082), a path analysis revealed that perceived ease of use of the library system had a significant impact on perceived usefulness, which ultimately led to behavioral intention to use. In addition, the study examined the similarities and differences in the significant predictors of digital library acceptance across countries and continents. Further, this study suggests that external variables that affect perceived ease of use and usefulness should be considered as important factors in the process of designing, implementing and operating digital library systems. Such consideration will help decrease the mismatch between system design and local users’ requirements, and further facilitate the successful adoption of digital library systems in developing countries. Spacey et al. (2004a, b) also studied the characteristics of staff in public libraries, which influence the attitudes of users to the Internet. In their research, the effects of factors such as gender, age, organizational variables, computer skills, information and communication technologies (ICT) experience and also subjective norms were studied in depth. Their findings show that the current position of staff and also the level of that position have some potential effects on their perceived usefulness of Internet but that the workplace also has some effect on its perceived ease of use. In the field of computer skills and ICT, most staff had adequate computer skills and considered the use of the Internet to be easy. 5. Methodology The subjects of this research are librarians in engineering faculties of public universities throughout Tehran. In total, nine universities with an engineering faculty, or universities generally considered to be engineering universities, were identified, including Sanati Sharif University, Amir Kabir, Khageh Nasiroddin-e Tousi, Elm-o Sanaat Iran, Tehran University, Tarbiat Moallem, Shahid Beheshti, Al-zahra and Tarbiat Modarres. The number of librarians in these centres was estimated to be about 160. Because the number of participants to be included in the research was not large enough to be sampled, the researcher applied the consensus method to improve validity. The method used to implement this research was a survey and the tool applied to collect information was a specially designed questionnaire. All of the questions were concerned the constructive elements of the TAM. In general, this questionnaire included 25 questions, excluding those related to demographic characteristics. A Likert scale was used, with 5 representing “highly agree” and 1 representing “highly disagree”. Most of these questions were used effectively by Davis and some other researchers in other fields of studies (Table I). The validity of the questions obtained from research in other fields was of potential importance in this field of this study, especially in studying the constructive elements of the TAM. The questionnaires were distributed by the researcher and of the 160 questionnaires delivered to librarians, 156 were completed by the respondents. Notably, one of them has been deleted from the list of questionnaires due to some incorrect information. Therefore, the number of questionnaires in the study was 155, a rate of response of 96.8 percent. This is regarded as an acceptable percentage. To evaluate the first six concepts in this research and also the meaningful relationships between the dependent and independent variables, the
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Constructs
Scaling criteria
References
1. Perceived usefulness (U)
The application of IT results in: 1-1. Expedite the rate of duties 1-2. Improve the quality of work 1-3. Increase the effectiveness of work 1-4. Increase accessibility to workrelated aims 1-5. Facilitate the duties we are required to perform 1-6. Is it specifically and generally helpful and influential?
Al-Gahtani (2001); Anandarajan et al. (2002)
2. Perceived ease of use (E)
The main features of IT: 2-1. Being easily learned 2-2. The ease of use in all needed cases 2-3. Establishing acceptable and understandable relationships 2-4. Flexibility 2-5. The ease of skill acquisition 2-6. The application of IT is easy in general
Al-Gahtani (2001); Anandarajan et al. (2002)
3. Attitude to use (A)
The use of IT is: 3-1. Good 3-2. Reasonable 3-3. Lovely 3-4. Pleasant 3-5. Helpful
Al-Gahtani (2001); Thong et al. (2002)
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Table I. Constructs and research criteria
4. Behavioral intention to use (BI) The intention to use IT: 4-1. To perform the duties 4-2. Continuously 4-3. If it is accessible 4-4. In immediate future
Thong et al. (2002)
5. Actual system use
Al-Gahtani (2003)
5-1. 5-2. 5-3. 5-4.
The application of different IT Often used for other activities High frequency of use The time of use daily
researchers applied a non-parametric correlative method using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. A method mainly based on path analysis was used to measure the last concept. 6. Findings The data gathered from the research are presented in the following three categories: (1) a description of the research population; (2) a description of the research variables; and (3) an evaluation of the research concepts/hypotheses.
Description of the research group Following the analysis of the 155 questionnaires, it is clear that there were more women (117) than men (38). The majority of the respondents were aged between 31-40 (just one more than in the age group 19-30). It was also discovered that the most of the librarians had work experience of between one and five years and the majority of respondents had BA degrees. That is to say, about 49 were majoring in IT and library-related skills and the remaining 61 were specialized in other subjects. The information related to the names of colleges and also the location of activities, has not been presented, due to the diversity of the responses. Description of the research variables In general, the average of respondents’ perceived usefulness of IT was approved beyond the “agreement” level and in some cases reached “high agreement”. This mainly shows that all respondents perceive IT to be most useful. In addition, in general the average respondent’s perceived ease of use of IT was also beyond the agreement factor and in some cases approached the “high agreement” level. In general, the average of attitude to use IT also passed the “agreement” factor and in some cases reached a “high agreement” level. The average for respondents’ decisions to apply IT in the library has also passed the “high agreement” level. High potential uses of IT in the libraries studied were recorded: . 87 items for library-related software; . 85 items for WWW; . 78 items for compact disc; . 72 items for printers; and . 68 items for word processors. The most highly-rated tasks were searching the library database with 102 cases, searching for information on the internet with 92 cases, loan services with 83 cases, cooperation among libraries with 57 cases, information storage and retrieval with 55 cases and cataloguing with 48 cases. Most respondents (111) apply IT many times in a day to accomplish their tasks and some (74) use IT for three hours in a day. Examination of the research hypotheses Table II shows the results for the first six hypotheses presented in this research. The first five hypotheses as well as the sixth have been approved, with 99 and 95 confidence rates, respectively. To evaluate the seventh hypothesis, the following have been considered: . Measure the path coefficients: As shown in Figure 2, the quantity of the model error was around 0.967, presented in the table as ðe ¼ 1- R 2) based on the R 2 value in Table III. This table has been evaluated considering the “use of IT” as a dependent variable and the “intention to use” as an independent variable. Figure shows the rest as dependent variables. . Define the causal effect of variables: to define the total causal effect of any independent variable on a research-dependent variable, it is necessary to measure its direct and indirect effects, as presented in Table IV. The “intention to use” variable had the most potential effects on the use of IT in engineering
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faculty libraries throughout Tehran ðb ¼ 0:183Þ: Following this variable, the others – “perceived use”, “perceived ease of use” and the “perceived usefulness of IT” were found to have potential effects on acceptance of IT. Evaluate the goodness of fit: to evaluate goodness of fit of the model in order to discover its applicability, it is first necessary to define the possible combinations of the model variables based on dependence and independence, and then to measure the partial regression coefficient in a standard way to determine the model coefficient for every combination. Regarding the final model (Figure 3), four combinations of variables can be made. Table V shows the combinations, their partial and model coefficients. Based on this finding, “Perceived ease of use” accounts for about 45 percent of changes in “Perceived usefulness”, the two variables, “Perceived usefulness” and “Perceived ease of use” account for 56.7 percent of changes in the variable “Attitude to use”, and the three variables, “Perceived usefulness”, “Perceived ease of use” and ““Attitude to use” account for about 75.8 percent of changes in the variable “Intention to use”. Finally, it has been shown that the variable “Intention to use” accounts for 3.3 percent of the changes in main dependent variable of this model (actual system use).
Dependent variables/ independent variables
Table II. Examination of the research hypotheses
Perceived usefulness (U)
Attitude toward using (A)
Behavioral intention to use (BI)
0.597 * 0.526 *
0.475 *
0.585 *
Perceived usefulness (U) Perceived ease of use (E) Attitude to use (A) Behavioral intention to use (BI)
Actual system use
0.560 * 0.205 * *
Notes: *p , 0.01; * *p , 0.05
Figure 2. Path diagram along with coefficients
Model Table III. Coefficient of the model
1
R
R square
Adjusted R square
Std. error of the estimate
0.183(a)
0.033
0.027
3.11
Effects sum
Effect rate
Effect type
Variable
0.075
X1 ! X4 ! X5 0.171 *0.183 ¼ 0.044 X1 ! X3 ! X4 ! X5 0.395 *0.618 *0.183
Indirect
Perceived usefulness (U)
Technology acceptance model
0.105
X2 ! X4 ! X5 0.163 *0.183 ¼ 0.029 X2 ! X3 ! X4 ! X5 0.432 *0.618 *0.183 ¼ 0.047 X2 ! X1 ! X3 ! X4 ! X5 0.67 *0.395 *0.618 *0.183 ¼ 0.029
Indirect
Perceived ease of use (E)
375
0.113
X3 ! X4 ! X5 0.618 *0.183 ¼ 0.113
Indirect
Attitude to use (A)
0.183
X4 ! X5 0.183
Direct
Behavioral intention to use (BI)
Table IV. Effect of research-independent variables on the dependent variable
Figure 3. Path diagram along with coefficients
Model coefficient 0.450 0.567 0.758 0.033
Behavioral intention to use (BI) X4
Attitude to using (A) X3
– – – 0.183
– – 0.634 –
Perceived Perceived ease of use usefulness (U) (E) Independent variables/dependent variables X2 X1 0.670 0.445 0.219 –
– 0.413 0.233 –
X1 X3 X4 X5
Perceived usefulness (U) Attitude to use (A) Behavioral intention to use (BI) Actual system use
7. Discussion and conclusions Based on these findings, the research hypotheses can be interpreted as follows. Considering the validity of the first six hypotheses in this research, we reach the following results:
Table V. Partial regression and model coefficient of the different combinations of variables
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The constructive factors of the TAM can be considered to have the most potential for studying IT applications and also IT acceptance (Al-Gahtani, 2001; Thong et al., 2002; Spacey et al., 2004a, b). Regarding the validity hypotheses related to the two main factors of the TAM, “perceived usefulness” and “perceived ease of use”, we can conclude that: the more that IT is helpful and easy to be applied in different fields, the more it is used. In fact, these factors have a great influence on the attitude of librarians to using IT, and consequently, results in influencing their intention to effectively apply IT in related fields (Rose and Straub, 1998).
The seventh hypothesis of this model deals with the applicability of the TAM in the study of Iranian university libraries. Regarding the total coefficient of this model (0.33) and also considering the “use of IT” as a dependent variable and the “intention to use” as an independent one, we can acknowledge that the changes in the main dependent variable of 3.3 percent are somehow related to changes in other variable, “the intention to use”. Legris et al. (2003) have mentioned that the TAM could anticipate about 40 percent of factors with potential impact on the use of IT, so, this coefficient is not essentially matched with the coefficient in the TAM and shows that the last hypothesis is weak. This could be due to the limitations of this model. As mentioned, this model is designed especially for individual not social and organizational factors. Notably, the external factors in the model make no noticeable impact, while other research strongly supports the role of organizational factors on IT application (Orlikowski and Tyre, 1993; Orlikowski and Hofman, 1997). Therefore, if we consider the variable called “the intention to use” (Figure 3) as a dependent variable and the rest as independent, the defining coefficient will be 0.758 (Table V). This shows that the changes in the dependent variable in this model, called the “intention to use” of 75.8 percent is partially related to changes in other the variables “perceived ease of use” and “perceived usefulness” as well as in “the attitude to use” IT. In summary, it can be concluded that the part of model related to personal factors is highly approved: the relationship between the factors “perceived usefulness”, “perceived ease of use” and the “attitude to use” with the factor “intention to use”), but the parts related to organizational factors are weakly approved (the relationship between the “intention to use” and “use”). That is to say, the organization has a potential role in providing the needed IT, the training of employees in the IT in use and also in the updating/upgrading of their skills.
References Al-Gahtani, S.S. (2001), “The applicability of TAM outside North America: an empirical test in the United Kingdom”, Information Resources Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 37-46. Al-Gahtani, S.S. (2003), “Computer technology adoption in Saudi Arabia: correlates of perceived innovation attributing”, Information Technology for Development, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 57-69.
Amoako-Gyampah, K. and Salam, A.F. (2003), “An extension of the technology acceptance model in an ERP implementation environment”, Information & Management, Vol. 41 No. 6, pp. 731-45. Anandarajan, M., Igbaria, M. and Anakwe, V.P. (2002), “IT acceptance in a less-developed country: a motivational factor perspective”, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 47-65. Davis, F.D., Bagozzi, R.P. and Warshaw, P.R. (1989), “User acceptance of computer technology: a comparison of two theoretical models”, Management Science, Vol. 35 No. 8, pp. 982-1003. Dillon, A. and Morris, M.G. (1996), “User acceptance of information technology: theories and models”, in Williams, M.E. (Ed.), Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST), American Society of Information Science (ASIS), Medford, NJ, pp. 3-32. Klopping, I.M. and McKinney, E. (2004), “Extending the technology acceptance model and the task-technology fit model to consumer e-commerce”, Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 35-48. Legris, P., Ingham, J. and Collerette, P. (2003), “Why do people use information technology? A critical review of the technology acceptance model”, Information & Management, Vol. 40 No. 3, pp. 191-204. Nakhoda, M. (2005), “Studying the personal factors on information technology by librarians in Tehran university libraries”, MA thesis, Tehran University, Tehran. Orlikowski, W.J. and Hofman, J.D. (1997), “An improvisational model for change management: the case of groupware technologies”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 38 No. 2, pp. 11-21. Orlikowski, W.J. and Tyre, M. (1993), “Exploiting opportunities for technological improvement in organizations”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 13-26. Pan, C.C., Sivo, S. and Brophy, J. (2003), “Students’ attitude in a web-enhanced hybrid course: a structural equation modeling inquiry”, Journal of Educational Media and Library Sciences, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 181-94. Park, N., Roman, R., Lee, S. and Chung, J.E. (2009), “User acceptance of a digital library system in developing countries: an application of the Technology Acceptance Model”, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 196-209. Rose, G. and Straub, D. (1998), “Predicating general IT use: applying TAM to the Arabic world”, Journal of Global Information Management, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 39-46. Spacey, R., Goulding, A. and Murray, I. (2004a), “The power of influence: what affects public library staff’s attitudes to the internet?”, Library Management, Vol. 25 Nos 6-7, pp. 270-6. Spacey, R., Goulding, A. and Murray, I. (2004b), “Exploring the attitudes of public library staff to the internet using the TAM”, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 60 No. 5, pp. 550-64. Thong, J.Y.L., Hong, W. and Tam, K. (2002), “Understanding user acceptance of digital libraries: what are the roles of interface characteristics, organizational context, and individual differences?”, International Journal Human-Computer Studies, Vol. 57 No. 3, pp. 215-42. Vaidyanathan, G., Sabbaghi, A. and Bargellini, M. (2005), “User acceptance of digital library: an empirical exploration of individual and system components”, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Vol. VI No. 2, pp. 279-85. About the authors Fatemeh Sheikhshoaei has an MA in Library and Information Sciences and has received a scholarship as a PhD candidate. She is also Research Assistant at the Department of Medical
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Library and Information Sciences of the School of Allied Medical Sciences in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Her research is focused on information technology application in libraries, digital libraries, traditional and online peer review process in scientific journals, Medical Subject Heading (MeSH), and information marketing. Fatemeh Sheikhshoaei is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
[email protected] Tahereh Oloumi is Associate Professor (Retired) at Tehran University and has a PhD in Library and Information Science. Her research activity is mainly concentrated on library management and administration. In particular, her interest is oriented toward information technology application in libraries.
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