The relationships among individual, team and organizational learning in Taiwan's university and college libraries

In the past few decades, organizational learning has become crucial topic for organizational development in a changing environment. Several scholars and experts in the field of librarianship have advocated the importance of creating a learning library for handling changes, such as the rapid development of the Internet and digital technology. However, an effective learning organization relies on a positive learning culture and starts with an individual commitment to learn. Therefore, for this study, the author measures the learning culture at the individual, team, and organizational levels, and examines the relationships among individual, team, and organizational learning within Taiwan’s university and college libraries. A survey instrument based on the Dimensions of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) is used for data collection to examine the perceptions of library staffs on how the organization they were employed for supports and uses learning at an individual, team, and organizational level. This study assesses the learning culture of the individual, team, and organizational levels at Taiwan’s university and college libraries. The survey population for this study encompasses 162 university and college libraries in Taiwan. Questionnaires were distributed to each library by mail in June and July, 2012. 810 questionnaires were distributed for this study. A total of 478 library staff members responded to the questionnaires, resulting in an overall response rate of 59 %. Several significant results were obtained in this study as follows: (a) The overall perceived value of the learning culture at the individual, team, and organizational levels are not strong among library staffs in Taiwan’s universities and colleges. (b) Non-managerial staff members with 11 to 15 years of work experience at Taiwan’s academic university and college libraries show a lower level of perception on the value of the learning culture at the individual, team, and organizational levels. (c) University and college libraries with a higher learning culture at the individual and organizational levels can predict a higher level of knowledge performance in their organizations. (d) The learning cultures among the individual, team, and organizational levels have a positive interrelationship in Taiwan’s university and college libraries.