The library services have changed very fast in the digital era. The library customers have access to multiple sources of information and expect quality material within the shortest possible time irrespective of the format of information. Hence, library must provide quality service in order to retain and increase its importance for its users and succeed in enhancing the role of the library in teaching, learning and research. Quality services means those which satisfy users’ expectations and perceptions.

Proper understanding of customers' perceptions along service quality dimensions is essential for LIS professionals to recognize the customer expectations. This paper briefly explains the concept of service quality; trace its development and highlight some results of service quality studies using various models, with an objective to describe and identify the issues meriting attention by the library professionals to gear up the library products and services so that user communities get satisfied coming to library

Patil, S

Sawant, Sarika

English

E-LIS repository

Scanned by CamScanner
N atıonal Conference on
■ nhancıne th · R oı · o¢ th · L ıbrary ın T  · · chını 
· ııd L *  · rnırıı 
°
く目的
Service Q uaııty E xpectations of A cadem ic L Ibrary U sers
M s Sw apnaı patıı
M L I Sc Student
, 
S H pT  Schooı of L ibrary Science
em aiı : sw apnaıipatiı62 0@ gm ailcom
D r Sarika Saw ant
A ssistant P rofessor, S H pT  School of L ibrary Science
em aiı : sarikashpt@ gm ailcom
A bstract
T he library services have changed very fast in the digital era
T he
ıibrary custom ers have access to m ultiple sources of inform ation
and expect quality m aterial w ithin the shortest possibıe tim e
irrespective of the form at of inform ation H ence, librafy m ust
provide quality service in order to retain and increase its
im portance for its users and succeed in enhancing the roıe of the
library in teaching, learning and research Q uality services m ean
those w hich satisfy users' exw tations and perceptionsP roper
understanding of custom ers' perceptions along service quality
dim ensions is essential for L ıS professionals to recognize the
custom er expectations T his paper briefly explains the concept of
service quality trace its developm ent and highlight som e results of
service quality studies using various m odeıs,  w ith an objective to
describe and identify the issues m eriting attention by the ıibrary
professionals to gear up the library products and services so that
user com m unities Bet satisfied com ing to library
K eyw ords service Q uality,  S E R V Q U A L , L IB Q U A L + ,  C ustom er Services Q uality, C ustom er
M anagem ent L ibrary 
Service Q uality, user E xw tations
,  user perception, Q uaıity
Introduction
The ıibraries have transform ed drastically from  storehouses of books and journals to thepowerhouses of know ledge and inform ation In the age of inform ation com m unicationhnoıoßy, the very existences of libraries depend on users' satisfaction users are satisf iedwhen the libru y is able to rise to their expectations or m eet their actuaı needs
D esaez (20 02) m entioned that there is greater need to satisfy custom er' s w ants andexpectations A  quality service is said to be one, which satisfy the users' expectation resulting
The concept of quality is not a new  concept for library and nnation science professionals as
17 8
R anganathan' s five ıaw s of library
Scanned by CamScanner
" ınhancım  th · R oı · o¢ th · library ın T  · achını an
d H arnınď
N atıonaı Conference on
science, particuıarıy the fourth law (save the tim e of reader) im pıies the im porta
nce of quality
in library sorvlces T his ıaw ıs a short sentence to expıain that efficient m an
agement a
nd
knowledge of user
'
s expectations are essentials for ıibrary services which in tum  
the quality
attributes
M odeıa of Service Q uaıııy
11ıe IsO  definition explain that,
"
quaıity is thc totaıity of features and characteristics 
of a
product ot service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or im plied needs
" In the IS 0  900 0
standard quality is described as '\hc consistent conform ance of a product or service to a g
iven
set of standards or expectations"
In case of ıibrary, m easurem ent of quaıity, evaıuation of library activities and services are
considered to be an essential factor There are various m ethods, tools procedures and studies to
evaluate components of emcient library environm ent
SE R VQ U A L  Stıłdles
From 199 5 1998 Parasuram an, Z eitham ı and B erry evoıved and developed the S E R V Q U A L , a
service quaıity m odelT heir unique contribution is eflorts of m easuring and com paring both
perceived perform ance and custom er expectations T he authors originally identified ten
eıem ents of service quality,  but in later w ork, these w ere colapsed into five factors reliability,
assurance, tangibıes, em pathy and responsiveness w hich include 22 item  instrum ents O n the
basis of these dim ensions this G ap T heory of Service Q uality m easures custom ers'
expectations and percepions of service they received T his theory is very m uch relevant and
usefuı to m easure the quality of library and im prove the quality of its elem ents
Sevm ı studies are carried out to m easure the quality of libraries and expectations of its users
by using the S E R V Q U A L  technique
the originators of S E R V Q U A L  m odel expressed that : " w e are confident that thc num ber one
concern of the custom ers today regardless of type of service is reıiability,  and the facet ttıat
m atters the least to current custom ers in assessing quaıity of service is tangibles" the first part
of the statem ent is proved by a survey of academ ic library w hich is undertaken by M anjw tha
and Shivaıingaiah (2004), in Indian academ ic institutes, where they found that reliability w as
consistentıy ranked as the m ost im portant cń teń on by custom ers while evaluating service
quaıity
O n sim ilar lines w ith the purpose to exam ine the perception of academ ic staft on thc quaıity of
academ ic library services K iran (20 10), used the survey m ethod to adm inister S E R V Q U A L
theory T he outcom e of the study states thai overal user' s satisfaction w ith the libru y services
is satisfactory, their perception of the quaıity of ıibrary services is " average
" H ow ever, the
anaıysis found that 'SPOnsiveness' of ıibrary staft is the highest rated attribute by the
respondents
though authors of servqual thought that tangibility least concern to users, arshad &
人 m een (20 10), w hile com paring users' expectations to their perceptions found discrepancy
between them  and m arked'tangibıes' as m ost preferred dim ension over others
Scanned by CamScanner
¢nhaııcıng th · R oı · o¢ th · library ın T  · a
chın · H  
W ıııng"
" 匡
L ibqual +  S tıłdies
quality dim ension
s on w hich library users judge the service quality of any 
library S E R V Q U A L
w as developed for use 
in the for profit business sector, and (a) incıuded 
item s not considere
d
relevant by som e library 
users (e g , the attire of service stafï), and (b) 
did not include som e
item s very im portant to 
library users H ence,  T exas A  &  M  unive
rsity L ibraries 
and other
libraries used m odified S E
R V Q U A L  instrum ents to serve the particular r
equirem ents of
libraries A R L , representing the ıargest research libraries 
in N orth A m erica, p
arm ered w ith
T exas A & M  university L ibraries to develop,  test, and refine 
L ibQ U A L +
M any research projects and research papers have com e out w hich 
describe the results of us
ing $
L ibQ U A L + T he service quality dim ensions identified by the L i
bQ U A L +  are : A ffect of
service (A s),  L ibrary as place (L p),  R eliability, selfreliance and A ccess to 
inform ation (IC )
posey (20 0 9), to explore students
'
perceptions of library services carrie
d out a research w hich
involved L IBQ uA L + T M ,  a nationally know n academ ic library assessm ent 
instrum ent that
m easures three dim ensions on a scale of approxim ately 2 2  aspects of serv
ice,  divided into 6
groups, (H eath, K }rillidou, &  A skew ,  2 0 0 4)
ıhese 3 dim ensions are 1) ÅØect of Service 2) ï nlbrm ation C onb oı and,  3) L ibrary as a P lace
H is study revealed that the respondents w ere dissatisfıed w ith the library services and desired
better than they w ere receiving and ranked place as a highest expected dim ension
R ehm an (2 0 1 1),  w ith the objective of m easuring difkrence betw een m inim um  expectations
and desired expectations of library users ca】T ied out a survey using L ibQ ual m odel T he data
show ed that P akistani users expect very high quality service T he analysis of collected data
show s that highest m inim um  and desired expectations w ere found w ith L P  dim ension and least
w ith A S dim ension T he IC  dim ension w as considered m oderately im portant
M iler (2 00 8), explored and expanded on the understanding of the m eaning of L IBQ U A L + T M
scores and m easured how  they are related to characteristics that express institutional m ission,institutional size, or [eve] of investm ent in librań es, by caiT ying out a study in academ ic
institutions A nd it show ed statistically significant relationships betw een the selected
institutional characteristics and L ibQ U A L +  T M  scores
In the IS 0  9000 standard quality is described as
'm e consistent conform ance of a product orservice to a given set of standards or expectations
" In m ost definitions quality is defined inrelation to the custom er or user " The key issue is that quality becom es a m eaningful conceptonly when it is indissolubly linked to the aim  of total custom er satisfaction" H ence there are
users in order to m ake quality decisions
multiple studies conducted to m easure satisfaction and to understand expectations of library
bibrary'I  Service Q uaıity
science in India T he study is an interpretation of ıibrary quality literature w hich is produced by
using various m odels of quality evaluation T he author expressed that it is very necessary for
1 8 0
Scanned by CamScanner
To know 
these wants of users, 
KUlkarni 20 12), used H em on and A ltm an M odel as a basis to
statem ents 
to elicit the responses H is study was regarding the service quaıity
expectat
i o = "  ı " ' " ' "rıısiratıve T raining Institute) libfaries T he
at? ibutes 
of library service quality w ere categorized into five groups w hich contain statem ents
o  R esou
rces, staft, Services,  G uidance asd E nvirorm ent It w as observed that the m aiońty
(75 o) of t
he A T I facuıty m em bers give first priority to the physicaı' E nvironm enť  w hich
included tang
ible elem ents of service quality ıike availability of com puters, opA c term inaıs,
cleanliness, 
adequate light, Proper ventiıation, functional furniture
, suitable library hours etc
ilie second prior
ity is given to the
' Services' and'R esou ces' rank as a third dim ension
D ash &  padhi (20 10),  in their review  paper discuss quality assessm ent process in library and
infom iation system s in m o
dem  a \  A  num ber of approaches including sE R vQ uA L ,
L IB Q U A L + , IS 0  11620 ,  and IS 0  2 7 89 have been m ade to quantify the library service quality
They concluded that any of the m odels as per suitability can be em ployed by library for quality
evaluation H ow ever, by using it collection of quantitative data is not enough but library stafï
should discuss user perceptions and expectations, using their expeń ence to interpret service
quality data and suggeste
d how  perceived shortfalls could be addressed
coııcıusion
This paper has discussed the literature review  of quality m anagem ent studies and its relevance
to ıibraries T here are various m ethods to guide the library in this task of quality evaluation
H owever, it can be best described by those w ho use the services by m easuring the difference
bđween perceptions and expectations from  libraries
the studies included in this p \  r stated that it is very necessary for library to take opinions of
those to w hom  they serve and m eant for, w hile planning and providing services A nd difrerent
users m ay have different preferences in their expectations depending upon 
their w ork and
affected by the type, objective and culture of institution
R eferences
A rshad
,  
A &  A m een, K (20 10) Service quality of the U nivers
ityof the Punjab
'
s libraries : A n
exploration of users' perceptionspeijbrm anm  M easureinent on
d JW ttpics ıl (3),  3 13 32 5
A rshad
, 
A &  A m ecn,  K (20 11) R eaıity versus E xpectat
ions : A  Survey of U n
iversity of the
PW ab' s L ibraries using sE R vQuA L ıIBrQ rp philoscpw 
and P racticeŁibraıy Philosoply
and practice (ejoıunal).  paper 
539 R etrieved from
httpj/digitalcom m onsunledu/cgi/view contentcgi?art
icle =  1 570& contex
plibphilpra c
C ooıĻ c and H eath
,  
F (200 1), " users
'
perceptions o
f library service q
uality L IBQ U A L +
T M
quaıity study
"
,  
L ibrary Trends,  9 (4), 54 8 5 84
Scanned by CamScanner
ational C onference on
nl th · R oı · o¢ th · library ın T  · achın*  and 
\ A ıłım ınť_ n
D ash, N K ,  &  P adhi, P (20 10) Q uaıity A ssessm ent of L ibrariesD E SID O C  Jow
m l ofŁibrary
&  ïnlorm ation Technology,  30 (6),  12 2 3
D esaez (2 002),  the im portance of custom er service Ilqbrm alion oulbok ó,  2 6 3
1
G rapentine, T (19 99) T he H istory and F uture of Service Q uality A ssessm ent : 
C onnecting
custom er needs and expectations to business processes Afarketing R esearch, 11 (4 ),  5
2 0
H eath, F , K }rillidou, M ,  &  A skew ,  C (E ds) (2004) L ibraries act on their L ibQ U A L
+  T M
findings : From  data to action (speciaı issue) Journal ofL ibroıy Ádministialion, 4 0 , 1 2 3 9
K iran,  K (20 10) Service quality and custom er satisfaction in academ ic libraries : P erspectives
from  a M alaysian universityL ibrm y R eview , 59  (4),  26 1 2 73
KUlkarni
, 
M K (20 12) Survey of state administive training institutes (A T ï) ıibraries in
India w ith special reference to ıibrary service quaıity expectations (D octoraı thesis) A vailabıe
from  shodhaganga (http//hdıhandle netti 060 3/37 78)
L ai,  L S (2 0 12) M anaging U ser E xpectations in Infonııation System s
D evelopm entInterm ıtionaı Jow naı of Social B ehavioural,  Educational,  E cononaic,  B rłsiness
ałrd Industriaı E ngineering, 6 , (12 ),  37 10 37 14
M anjunathą  K ,  &  Shivalingaiah,  D (2 00 4) C ustom ers P erception of Service Q uality in
L ibrafies A nnaıs of L ibrary and Įnjorm ation Studies, 5 1 (4),  \4 S 15 1
Posey, J (2 0 0 9) Student perceptions and expectations of ıibrary services quaıity and user
satisfaction at W alters State C om m unity C olıege (E lectronic T heses and D issertations) (P aper
1 836 available at htıp//dc etsu edu/etd/l 836)
R ehm an
,  
S U (2 0 12) U nderstanding thc E xpectations of Pakistani L ibraries U sers : A
L IBQ U A L  Study L ibrary P lilosopfry and P racticefejoupnal) P aper 7 3 2 R etrieved fromhttp//digitalcom m onsunledu/cgi/viewcontentcgi?articıe=  l 806&ccontext= libphiıprac
Seth
,  
N
, D eshm ukh, S G , &  V rat, P (2 004) Service quality m odels : a review H tem lionatJow naı of quality &  R eıiabiıily M anagem ent, 22 (9),  9 \3 -949
Shanna
, C (20 13) Q uality M anagem ent in L ibraries : A n O utline Tnlen ıalional Jourm l ofEnhanced R esearch in M anagem ent &  C omputer A pplications, 2 (8), 14
Sharm Ą  C , &  K adyan,  S (2 0 16) E xam ine T otal Q uality M anageīııcnt in E ngineering C ollege
S  cience
, 
10 (4), 2 15 2 2 3
Libraries: A n cvaluativc Study P earl J 4 Jburnal of librm y and ıw rnıalion
Penceptions and expectations Free Press,  N ew  Y ork, 19 90
Zeitham l
, v A , parasuram an,  A B erry, L L D elivering quality service B alancing custom er
18 2


Service Quality Expectations of Academic Library Users

http://eprints.rclis.org/32356/3/patil%26sawant%202017.pdf

Service Quality Expectations of Academic Library Users

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

E-LIS repository