Physical

Emotional

"Whereas in the past an inappropriate diet or ungainly body type may have led to a species' demise, today it is the brain that holds the key to our survival.  We are no longer struggling simply to adapt to natural conditions; our struggle is to adapt to the products we've created" (Brod, 1984, p14).

Beginning in the 1980s, computer technology became increasingly integrated with our daily lives. 

Librarians, by their nature and interests, tend to embrace technologies that help them improve service to their patrons.  But the rate of technological change in libraries has been dramatic.

As Virginia Barlett wrote in 1995, “Information technology is having a profound effect on all of us, but as information providers librarians are faced with constant changes in the way that information is available for patrons.  The rate at which information is multiplying and the methods for retrieving information … are staggering” (p. 226).

Rapid technological change and integration continued through the 1990s and into the new millennium.  It has become a fact of life in many social and economic arenas, including all parts of the library organization. 

While improved and prolific information technology has brought many liberating benefits, it has also brought other challenges, including new time demands, knowledge/skill requirements, work habits, and the resulting psychological pressures (Kupersmith, 1992/2005, para 3). (For the full Kupersmith studies, click here: )

An individual’s inability to cope with these pressures led to the coining of the term “technostress”.