Abstract
This research study assessed academic librarians’ perceptions of productivity while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information was collected via an online survey that was sent out to several Association of College and Research Libraries listservs. Participants were academic librarians who work at large colleges and universities (FTE is greater than 15,000 students). Librarianship is a practice done mostly onsite, and with the sudden transition to remote work, academic librarians were forced to adapt to an unknown work environment with less access to the direct support of supervisors. This research demonstrates that the majority of academic librarians perceived themselves to be highly productive, and generally satisfied with their jobs, while working from home.
References
Albro, M., & McElfresh, J. M. (2021). Job engagement and employee-organization relationship among academic librarians in a modified work environment. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 47(5), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2021.102413
Al-Sada, M., Al-Esmael, B., & Mohd, N. F. (2017). Influence of organizational culture and leadership style on employee satisfaction, commitment and motivation in the educational sector in Qatar. EuroMed Journal of Business, 12(2), 163–188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EMJB-02-2016-0003
Awada, M., Lucas, G., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Roll, S. (2021). Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on office worker productivity and work experience. Work (Reading, Mass.), 69(4), 1171–1189. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-210301
Baker, E., Avery, G. C., & Crawford, J. (2007). Satisfaction and perceived productivity when professionals work from home. Research & Practice in Human Resource Management, 15(1), 37–62.
Bellomo, T. (2021). The true test of virtual teams: Productivity is up, but how are communication, talent management, and employee engagement going? Talent Development (Alexandria, Va.), 75(2), 34–39.
Black, L., & Hyslop, C. (1995). Telecommuting for original cataloging at the Michigan State University libraries. College & Research Libraries, 56(4), 319–323. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl_56_04_319
Borman, W. C., & Motowidlo, S. J. (1993). Expanding the criterion domain to include elements of contextual performance. In N. Schmitt, and W. C. Borman (Eds.), Personnel selection in organizations (pp. 71-98). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Campbell, J. P. (1990). Modeling the performance prediction problem in industrial and organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette, and L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, Vol. 1 (pp. 687-732). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Carr, M. R. (2006). Telecommuting: alternative strategies for the Jamaican libraries. The Electronic Library, 24(3), 380–388. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470610671222
Delany, K. (2021). What challenges will organizations face transitioning for the first time to the new normal of remote working? Human Resource Development International, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2021.2017391
Duncan, J. (2008). Working from afar: A new trend for librarianship. College & Research Libraries News, 69(4), 216–219.
Gabriel, A. S., Ganster, M. L., Slaughter, J. E., & MacGowan, R. L. (2021). The emotional complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic and organizational life. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 14(1-2), 85–89. https://doi.org/10.1017/iop.2021.7
Harnessing the drive and passion of employees: The role of self-efficacy and growth need strength in innovation performance. (2021). Human Resource Management International Digest, 29(1), 23–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-08-2020-0189
Kenreich, M. E. (2001). Physical settings and organizational success. Library Collections, Acquisitions, & Technical Services, 25(1), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1464-9055(00)00189-5
Koopmans, L., Bernaards, C. M., Hildebrandt, V. H., van Buuren, S., van der Beek, Allard J, & de Vet, Henrica C. W. (2014). Improving the individual work performance questionnaire using rasch analysis. Journal of Applied Measurement, 15(2), 160.
Luo, M., & McKinney, M. (2013). JAL in the past decade: A comprehensive analysis of academic library research. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41(2), 123–129.
Macdonald, S., & MacIntyre, P. (1997). The Generic Job Satisfaction Scale: Scale Development and Its Correlates. Employee Assistance Quarterly, 13(2), 1–16.
Meglio, D. (1991). Implications of telecommuting in a library environment. Library Administration & Management, 5(1), 30–33.
Neha, P. S., Sharma, T., & Madhushree, N. A. (2016). Measuring employee perception of performance management system effectiveness. Employee Relations, 38(2), 224–247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ER-01-2015-0006
Rotundo, M., & Sackett, P. R. (2002). The relative importance of task, citizenship, and counterproductive performance to global ratings of performance: A policy-capturing approach. Journal of Applied Psychology (87), 66–80.
Rysavy, M. D. T., & Michalak, R. (2020). Working from home: How we managed our team remotely with technology. Journal of Library Administration, 60(5), 532–542. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2020.1760569
Smith, D., & Van Dyke, T. B. (2008). A telecommuting interlibrary loan librarian's experience: The views of both the telecommuter and the on-site supervisor. Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve, 18(4), 449–455. https://doi.org/10.1080/10723030802181828
Toniolo-Barrios, M., & Pitt, L. (2021). Mindfulness and the challenges of working from home in times of crisis. Business Horizons, 64(2), 189–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2020.09.004
Walsh, B., & Rana, H. (2020). Continuity of academic library services during the pandemic: The University of Toronto libraries’ response. Journal of Scholarly Publishing, e51404–. https://doi.org/10.3138/jsp.51.4.04
Wax, A., Deutsch, C., Lindner, C., Lindner, S. J., & Hopmeyer, A. (2022). Workplace loneliness: The benefits and detriments of working from home. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 903975–903975. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.903975
Weitzer, J., Papantoniou, K., Seidel, S., Klösch, G., Caniglia, G., Laubichler, M., Bertau, M., Birmann, B. M., Jäger, C. C., Zenk, L., Steiner, G., & Schernhammer, E. (2021). Working from home, quality of life, and perceived productivity during the first 50-day COVID-19 mitigation measures in Austria: A cross-sectional study. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 94(8), 1823–1837. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-021-01692-0
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2022 International Journal of Librarianship