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Human Information Interaction 2025, 11(4): 112-136 |
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bakhtiari M, ghaffari S. The relationship between media literacy and the utilization and acceptance of news from online sources among the librarians in public libraries in Qom province. Human Information Interaction 2025; 11 (4)
URL: http://hii.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3194-en.html
URL: http://hii.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3194-en.html
Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract: (564 Views)
Advances in information technology and media evolution have impacted many different areas under the influence of related technologies. Social media and information centers have transformed the face of libraries and information providers, especially creating new opportunities for librarians and university libraries (Kamani, 2015). Given the development of social media in the necessity of librarians in information centers and libraries, awareness of librarians' views on media literacy in the category of social media literacy seems to be an interesting topic that can be effective in providing the desired solutions for the promotion and goal of social media literacy. This study seeks to investigate the relationship between media literacy and the use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news among librarians. The use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news are issues that are of greater importance among librarians today; therefore, the present study attempts to answer the question of whether there is a relationship between media literacy and the use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news among librarians in public libraries in Qom province?
Accordingly, the research hypotheses are stated as follows:
Main hypotheses:
1- There is a significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions (cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and moral) and the use of cyberspace among librarians in public libraries in Qom province.
2- There is a significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions (cognitive, emotional, aesthetic and ethical) and media news acceptance among librarians of public libraries in Qom province.
Sub-hypotheses:
1- Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the age of librarians.
2- Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the field of study of librarians.
3- Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the type of social media of librarians.
The second section discusses the background of the research. The third section explains the research method. The fourth section presents and discusses the research findings. Finally, the fifth section discusses conclusions and suggestions.
Methods and Materoal
The type of research method in this study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlational in terms of method, it is a survey type that was implemented by field method. The statistical population of the study is all librarians of public libraries in Qom province, whose number is 112 people, and the sample size is 80 people selected by available sampling method. This study used the library method to develop the theoretical foundations of the research and the following tools were used to collect field information. Demographic information: This information includes age, field of study, and type of media, which was measured through a questionnaire.
Questionnaire on the use of cyberspace: A researcher-made questionnaire was used to measure the use of cyberspace. This questionnaire has 20 questions and its aim is to assess the extent to which individuals use cyberspace (social networks and the Internet). The response range is a five-point Likert scale (1=very little to 5=very much). To obtain the overall score of the questionnaire, the scores for each question were added together. This score will range from 20 to 100. To interpret the overall score obtained, it is done as follows. 20 to 40 is low use of cyberspace 41 to 60 is moderate use of cyberspace 61 to 80 is high use of cyberspace 81 to 100 is very high use of cyberspace.
Media News Acceptance Questionnaire: The questionnaire by Lee and Suh (2015) was used to measure media news acceptance. This questionnaire was translated, validated, and used for the first time by the researcher. This questionnaire has 5 items and is designed based on a five-point Likert scale (from completely disagree to completely agree). The response range is from 1 to 5, with a score of 1 indicating low credibility and a score of 5 indicating high credibility. Also, all items have direct (positive) scoring.
Resultss and Discussion
First main hypothesis: There is a significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions (cognitive, emotional, aesthetic and ethical) and the level of use of cyberspace among librarians in public libraries in Qom province.
The results of the first main hypothesis show that there is no significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions and the level of use of cyberspace, therefore the first hypothesis of the research is rejected. The results of this hypothesis are consistent with the results of the research of Ghanetati et al. (2018) and inconsistent with the results of the research of Bolboli and Tarbiati (2014), Miri and Bani Hashem (2019) and Asadi (2020).
Second main hypothesis: There is a significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions (cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and ethical) and the acceptance of media news among librarians in public libraries in Qom province.
The results of the second main hypothesis show that there is a negative and significant relationship between media literacy and media news acceptance (r= -0.300, p= 0.000). There is also a negative and significant relationship between all components of media literacy and media news acceptance. For example, the negative relationship between cognitive literacy and media news acceptance (r= -0.335, p= 0.000). While confirming the second main hypothesis of the study, it can be concluded that media news acceptance among librarians is related to their level of media literacy, which is completely consistent with the results of the research of Taghipour et al. (1400), Anthony (2009). Sub-hypothesis 1: Media literacy, the level of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the age of librarians
To examine this hypothesis, one-way ANOVA analysis of variance test was used, the results of which are reported in the tables below.
According to the ANOVA test, given that the significance level of the test error for all three variables is greater than 0.05, therefore, the lack of difference in the means is confirmed and the difference in the means of the research variables among the three groups is not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Therefore, while rejecting the hypothesis, it can be said that media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news do not differ based on the age of librarians. The findings of the present study regarding the lack of relationship between age and media literacy are consistent with the results of the study by Salemi et al. (1400). Esmaili et al. (1398) also showed that among the demographic variables, only age is related to the variable of
ability to detect fake news, which results of the present study are somewhat inconsistent with this study.
Second Sub-Hypothesis: Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news differ based on the field of study of librarians.
One-way analysis of variance test was used to examine this hypothesis.
According to the results of the second sub-hypothesis, given that the significance level of the test error for the amount of use of cyberspace is greater than 0.05, therefore, the lack of difference in the mean is confirmed and the difference in the mean of the use of cyberspace between the three groups is not statistically significant (P<0.05). On the other hand, the significance level of the test error for media literacy and acceptance of media news is less than 0.05, therefore, the difference in the mean in these two variables is confirmed and the difference in the mean of media literacy and acceptance of media news between the two groups of subjects is statistically significant (P<0.05). The results of this hypothesis are in agreement with the results of the study by Esmaili et al. (2019) on the relationship between the field of study and the variable of information literacy in a way. is not linear.
Third Sub-Hypothesis: Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the type of social media of librarians.
To examine this hypothesis, a one-way analysis of variance test was used.
According to the results of the third sub-hypothesis, given that the significance level of the test error for media literacy is greater than 0.05, therefore, the lack of difference in the mean is confirmed and the difference in the mean of media literacy based on the type of social media of the subjects is not statistically significant (P > 0.05). On the other hand, the significance level of the test error for the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news is less than 0.05, therefore, the difference in the mean in these two variables is confirmed and the difference The average amount of use of cyberspace and acceptance of media news by the type of social media used by the subjects is statistically significant (P<0.05). A pairwise comparison of the types of social media used by the subjects in terms of the amount of use of cyberspace and acceptance of media news shows that the difference in the average amount of use of cyberspace on Instagram and others is greater and positive (0.798). Given the significance of the difference, it can be concluded that subjects who prioritize Instagram use have the highest and subjects who use other media (Twitter and Facebook) have the lowest amount of use of cyberspace. According to the table above, the difference in the average acceptance of media news on Instagram and WhatsApp is greater and negative (-0.367), and given the significance of the difference, it can be concluded that subjects who prioritize Instagram use have the lowest and subjects who use WhatsApp have the highest acceptance of media news. The results of this hypothesis are completely consistent with the results of Anthony's (2009) research.
Conclusion:
The turning of users to the Internet due to the lack of sufficient time to visit libraries was one of the reasons for the creation of digital libraries. Digital libraries have facilitated and accelerated users' access to the required information by providing various facilities; but what achieves this goal is a suitable architecture and design in creating a digital library. If the needs of users, the type of society and other factors are taken into account in the design of digital libraries, it can be said that the library will come closer to the intended goals. Considering that in the design of digital libraries, the discussion of the user interface is very important in order to eliminate human factors, digital
libraries must consider the characteristics related to the user interface in their design. Due to the importance of this discussion, the user interfaces of various digital libraries need to be evaluated continuously. The present study also aimed to investigate this issue by evaluating the user interface on the English web pages of selected national digital libraries based on the criteria available in the texts and sources. Conducting the study required criteria through which the evaluation could be conducted. After reviewing the relevant research backgrounds in the field of digital libraries and user interface, it was observed that despite the studies conducted in the field of user interface, these studies had not been conducted completely and comprehensively, and different researchers had each examined only one or a limited number of criteria in the field of different information systems. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between media literacy and the use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news among librarians of public libraries in Qom province, and the research hypotheses were tested. A review of domestic and foreign empirical records shows that researchers have addressed aspects of media literacy among different media in accordance with their subject of study, and what has been their focus in most of these studies is the study of media literacy as a dependent variable that is influenced by other factors, and in that all the records have discussed media literacy, they are similar to the present study; however, the present study is distinct from the research record in that it has examined the relationship between media literacy and its dimensions with the use of cyberspace and acceptance of media news among librarians of public libraries in Qom province. In fact, the variables of media literacy and its dimensions, use of cyberspace and acceptance of news from cyberspace are measured together for the first time, so in this respect it has a new nature that will lead to its theoretical expansion and development; In addition to theoretical benefits, it offers solutions to prevent the spread of cyberspace harms among librarians through interventions on these two structures (the Internet and social networks). In summary, it can be said that in order to escape the trap of cyberspace rumors, social media users must equip themselves with media literacy tools to become members of pages and channels and obtain news and information through channels whose main goal is, first, to disseminate news correctly, and second, to disseminate news that is religiously, legally, and morally correct, thus recognizing the truth from Nazareth. Therefore, in today's virtual world, only those who are equipped with the weapon of media literacy can avoid falling prey to the rumor-spreading of news agencies that seek to mentally deceive members of the global community.
The results of one-way analysis of variance of the first sub-hypothesis showed that media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news do not differ based on the age of librarians. Therefore, while rejecting the hypothesis, it can be concluded that increasing or decreasing age is not related to media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news by librarians. The findings of the present study regarding the lack of relationship between age and media literacy are consistent with the results of the study by Salemi et al. (1400). However, this study found that age has no relationship with media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news. Perhaps the most important possible reason for this is the close age gap between librarians, which does not expect much change in media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news.
The results of the one-way analysis of variance of the second sub-hypothesis showed that the amount of use of cyberspace does not differ based on the field of study (librarianship and non-librarianship) of librarians, but there is a significant difference between the two groups based on media literacy and acceptance of media news. Based on the results, media literacy among librarians in the library field is higher than in other fields, and acceptance of media news among librarians in the library field is lower than in other fields, which is somewhat inconsistent with the results of the study by Esmaili et al. (2019) based on the relationship between the field of study and the variable of information literacy. However, no consistency or inconsistency was found in the variable of acceptance of media news.
The results of the one-way analysis of variance of the third sub-hypothesis showed that media literacy does not differ based on the type of social media used by librarians, but there is a significant difference based on the amount of use of cyberspace and acceptance of media news. According to the results, the amount of use of cyberspace is higher among librarians who use Instagram more and lower among librarians whose media priority is Twitter and Facebook. Also, the acceptance of media news is lower among librarians who use Instagram more and higher among librarians whose media priority is WhatsApp. Based on these findings, it can be said that the Instagram platform has the highest media consumption among librarians and librarians also accept WhatsApp media news more than other media. Although there is no similar finding in this regard, it can be said that many Iranian users have turned to Instagram after the restrictions imposed on Telegram, and this platform has seen increasing growth among Iranian users after Telegram was filtered. According to published reports, about 49 percent of Iranians are members of Instagram, and it is one of the most popular platforms for businesses; as 90 percent of Instagram users follow at least one business page. The report also believes that 60 percent of Instagram users have announced that they have become familiar with new products on this network. Instagram also plays a role in the world. The results of this hypothesis are completely consistent with the results of Anthony's (2009) research.
Accordingly, the research hypotheses are stated as follows:
Main hypotheses:
1- There is a significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions (cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and moral) and the use of cyberspace among librarians in public libraries in Qom province.
2- There is a significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions (cognitive, emotional, aesthetic and ethical) and media news acceptance among librarians of public libraries in Qom province.
Sub-hypotheses:
1- Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the age of librarians.
2- Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the field of study of librarians.
3- Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the type of social media of librarians.
The second section discusses the background of the research. The third section explains the research method. The fourth section presents and discusses the research findings. Finally, the fifth section discusses conclusions and suggestions.
Methods and Materoal
The type of research method in this study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlational in terms of method, it is a survey type that was implemented by field method. The statistical population of the study is all librarians of public libraries in Qom province, whose number is 112 people, and the sample size is 80 people selected by available sampling method. This study used the library method to develop the theoretical foundations of the research and the following tools were used to collect field information. Demographic information: This information includes age, field of study, and type of media, which was measured through a questionnaire.
Questionnaire on the use of cyberspace: A researcher-made questionnaire was used to measure the use of cyberspace. This questionnaire has 20 questions and its aim is to assess the extent to which individuals use cyberspace (social networks and the Internet). The response range is a five-point Likert scale (1=very little to 5=very much). To obtain the overall score of the questionnaire, the scores for each question were added together. This score will range from 20 to 100. To interpret the overall score obtained, it is done as follows. 20 to 40 is low use of cyberspace 41 to 60 is moderate use of cyberspace 61 to 80 is high use of cyberspace 81 to 100 is very high use of cyberspace.
Media News Acceptance Questionnaire: The questionnaire by Lee and Suh (2015) was used to measure media news acceptance. This questionnaire was translated, validated, and used for the first time by the researcher. This questionnaire has 5 items and is designed based on a five-point Likert scale (from completely disagree to completely agree). The response range is from 1 to 5, with a score of 1 indicating low credibility and a score of 5 indicating high credibility. Also, all items have direct (positive) scoring.
Resultss and Discussion
First main hypothesis: There is a significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions (cognitive, emotional, aesthetic and ethical) and the level of use of cyberspace among librarians in public libraries in Qom province.
The results of the first main hypothesis show that there is no significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions and the level of use of cyberspace, therefore the first hypothesis of the research is rejected. The results of this hypothesis are consistent with the results of the research of Ghanetati et al. (2018) and inconsistent with the results of the research of Bolboli and Tarbiati (2014), Miri and Bani Hashem (2019) and Asadi (2020).
Second main hypothesis: There is a significant relationship between media literacy and its dimensions (cognitive, emotional, aesthetic, and ethical) and the acceptance of media news among librarians in public libraries in Qom province.
The results of the second main hypothesis show that there is a negative and significant relationship between media literacy and media news acceptance (r= -0.300, p= 0.000). There is also a negative and significant relationship between all components of media literacy and media news acceptance. For example, the negative relationship between cognitive literacy and media news acceptance (r= -0.335, p= 0.000). While confirming the second main hypothesis of the study, it can be concluded that media news acceptance among librarians is related to their level of media literacy, which is completely consistent with the results of the research of Taghipour et al. (1400), Anthony (2009). Sub-hypothesis 1: Media literacy, the level of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the age of librarians
To examine this hypothesis, one-way ANOVA analysis of variance test was used, the results of which are reported in the tables below.
According to the ANOVA test, given that the significance level of the test error for all three variables is greater than 0.05, therefore, the lack of difference in the means is confirmed and the difference in the means of the research variables among the three groups is not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Therefore, while rejecting the hypothesis, it can be said that media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news do not differ based on the age of librarians. The findings of the present study regarding the lack of relationship between age and media literacy are consistent with the results of the study by Salemi et al. (1400). Esmaili et al. (1398) also showed that among the demographic variables, only age is related to the variable of
ability to detect fake news, which results of the present study are somewhat inconsistent with this study.
Second Sub-Hypothesis: Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news differ based on the field of study of librarians.
One-way analysis of variance test was used to examine this hypothesis.
According to the results of the second sub-hypothesis, given that the significance level of the test error for the amount of use of cyberspace is greater than 0.05, therefore, the lack of difference in the mean is confirmed and the difference in the mean of the use of cyberspace between the three groups is not statistically significant (P<0.05). On the other hand, the significance level of the test error for media literacy and acceptance of media news is less than 0.05, therefore, the difference in the mean in these two variables is confirmed and the difference in the mean of media literacy and acceptance of media news between the two groups of subjects is statistically significant (P<0.05). The results of this hypothesis are in agreement with the results of the study by Esmaili et al. (2019) on the relationship between the field of study and the variable of information literacy in a way. is not linear.
Third Sub-Hypothesis: Media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news differ based on the type of social media of librarians.
To examine this hypothesis, a one-way analysis of variance test was used.
According to the results of the third sub-hypothesis, given that the significance level of the test error for media literacy is greater than 0.05, therefore, the lack of difference in the mean is confirmed and the difference in the mean of media literacy based on the type of social media of the subjects is not statistically significant (P > 0.05). On the other hand, the significance level of the test error for the amount of use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news is less than 0.05, therefore, the difference in the mean in these two variables is confirmed and the difference The average amount of use of cyberspace and acceptance of media news by the type of social media used by the subjects is statistically significant (P<0.05). A pairwise comparison of the types of social media used by the subjects in terms of the amount of use of cyberspace and acceptance of media news shows that the difference in the average amount of use of cyberspace on Instagram and others is greater and positive (0.798). Given the significance of the difference, it can be concluded that subjects who prioritize Instagram use have the highest and subjects who use other media (Twitter and Facebook) have the lowest amount of use of cyberspace. According to the table above, the difference in the average acceptance of media news on Instagram and WhatsApp is greater and negative (-0.367), and given the significance of the difference, it can be concluded that subjects who prioritize Instagram use have the lowest and subjects who use WhatsApp have the highest acceptance of media news. The results of this hypothesis are completely consistent with the results of Anthony's (2009) research.
Conclusion:
The turning of users to the Internet due to the lack of sufficient time to visit libraries was one of the reasons for the creation of digital libraries. Digital libraries have facilitated and accelerated users' access to the required information by providing various facilities; but what achieves this goal is a suitable architecture and design in creating a digital library. If the needs of users, the type of society and other factors are taken into account in the design of digital libraries, it can be said that the library will come closer to the intended goals. Considering that in the design of digital libraries, the discussion of the user interface is very important in order to eliminate human factors, digital
libraries must consider the characteristics related to the user interface in their design. Due to the importance of this discussion, the user interfaces of various digital libraries need to be evaluated continuously. The present study also aimed to investigate this issue by evaluating the user interface on the English web pages of selected national digital libraries based on the criteria available in the texts and sources. Conducting the study required criteria through which the evaluation could be conducted. After reviewing the relevant research backgrounds in the field of digital libraries and user interface, it was observed that despite the studies conducted in the field of user interface, these studies had not been conducted completely and comprehensively, and different researchers had each examined only one or a limited number of criteria in the field of different information systems. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between media literacy and the use of cyberspace and the acceptance of media news among librarians of public libraries in Qom province, and the research hypotheses were tested. A review of domestic and foreign empirical records shows that researchers have addressed aspects of media literacy among different media in accordance with their subject of study, and what has been their focus in most of these studies is the study of media literacy as a dependent variable that is influenced by other factors, and in that all the records have discussed media literacy, they are similar to the present study; however, the present study is distinct from the research record in that it has examined the relationship between media literacy and its dimensions with the use of cyberspace and acceptance of media news among librarians of public libraries in Qom province. In fact, the variables of media literacy and its dimensions, use of cyberspace and acceptance of news from cyberspace are measured together for the first time, so in this respect it has a new nature that will lead to its theoretical expansion and development; In addition to theoretical benefits, it offers solutions to prevent the spread of cyberspace harms among librarians through interventions on these two structures (the Internet and social networks). In summary, it can be said that in order to escape the trap of cyberspace rumors, social media users must equip themselves with media literacy tools to become members of pages and channels and obtain news and information through channels whose main goal is, first, to disseminate news correctly, and second, to disseminate news that is religiously, legally, and morally correct, thus recognizing the truth from Nazareth. Therefore, in today's virtual world, only those who are equipped with the weapon of media literacy can avoid falling prey to the rumor-spreading of news agencies that seek to mentally deceive members of the global community.
The results of one-way analysis of variance of the first sub-hypothesis showed that media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news do not differ based on the age of librarians. Therefore, while rejecting the hypothesis, it can be concluded that increasing or decreasing age is not related to media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news by librarians. The findings of the present study regarding the lack of relationship between age and media literacy are consistent with the results of the study by Salemi et al. (1400). However, this study found that age has no relationship with media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news. Perhaps the most important possible reason for this is the close age gap between librarians, which does not expect much change in media literacy, the amount of use of cyberspace, and the acceptance of media news.
The results of the one-way analysis of variance of the second sub-hypothesis showed that the amount of use of cyberspace does not differ based on the field of study (librarianship and non-librarianship) of librarians, but there is a significant difference between the two groups based on media literacy and acceptance of media news. Based on the results, media literacy among librarians in the library field is higher than in other fields, and acceptance of media news among librarians in the library field is lower than in other fields, which is somewhat inconsistent with the results of the study by Esmaili et al. (2019) based on the relationship between the field of study and the variable of information literacy. However, no consistency or inconsistency was found in the variable of acceptance of media news.
The results of the one-way analysis of variance of the third sub-hypothesis showed that media literacy does not differ based on the type of social media used by librarians, but there is a significant difference based on the amount of use of cyberspace and acceptance of media news. According to the results, the amount of use of cyberspace is higher among librarians who use Instagram more and lower among librarians whose media priority is Twitter and Facebook. Also, the acceptance of media news is lower among librarians who use Instagram more and higher among librarians whose media priority is WhatsApp. Based on these findings, it can be said that the Instagram platform has the highest media consumption among librarians and librarians also accept WhatsApp media news more than other media. Although there is no similar finding in this regard, it can be said that many Iranian users have turned to Instagram after the restrictions imposed on Telegram, and this platform has seen increasing growth among Iranian users after Telegram was filtered. According to published reports, about 49 percent of Iranians are members of Instagram, and it is one of the most popular platforms for businesses; as 90 percent of Instagram users follow at least one business page. The report also believes that 60 percent of Instagram users have announced that they have become familiar with new products on this network. Instagram also plays a role in the world. The results of this hypothesis are completely consistent with the results of Anthony's (2009) research.
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