Development and validation of a motivational scale for taking librarian course in Japan

• Main Authors: Asaishi, Takuma, Ikeuchi, Ui, Kiichiro, Kanai, Hinata, Yoshikazu, Zhu, Xinru
• Other Authors: Nanzan University, Japan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/181285
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Background. Identifying what motivates students to take library courses is beneficial for university administrators and faculty members, as it enables them to market these courses to potential students and to design suitable curriculum. While such studies require tools to measure students’ motivation systematically, no validated scale has been published. Objectives. The goal of this article is to develop and validate a scale that measures students’ motivation to take librarian courses at universities and colleges in Japan. Methods. We first collected a wide range of motivations for enrolling in the librarian course through open-ended surveys and identified the main six factors common to these motivations by exploratory factor analysis (n=203). Subsequently, we prepared four sub-scales corresponding to each factor and completed the Motivation Scale for taking Librarian Course (MSLC). Confirmatory factor analysis (n=374) was conducted to validate MSLC. Results. The MSLC we developed consists of 24 sub-scales that measure six factors of student motivation for enrolling in a librarian course. These are: Desire to Work in a Library, Qualification-Oriented Mindset, Admiration for a Librarian Acquaintance, Attachment to Books and Reading, Expectations for Librarian Certification, and Desire to Work in the Publishing Industry. The result of confirmatory factor analysis showed that 24 sub-scales can capture the intended factors. Implications. The faculty members of the librarian course can utilize this scale to understand students’ motivations to enrol in the librarian course and explore how these motivations relate to academic performance or actual obtainment of librarian certifications.