Quality Services in Academic Libraries

I.K. Antwi, & M. L. Akeriwe

Abstract

The emergence of technology and the changing needs of library users have decreased the importance of the Library as the foremost information provider in the academic environment. This paper discusses how the three dimensions of LibQual, a tool used to measure service quality in academic libraries can be maximised in academic libraries.

Introduction

The primary aim of libraries is to ensure that recorded human knowledge and experiences are collected and organized in a manner that would ensure full access to these records. In the case of academic libraries, they do not only perform this duty but also have the responsibility to ensure that all scholarly communications including the primary resources which they depend on for their research is properly preserved. Advances in the development and application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have created serious competition foracademic libraries from many information service providers. These, coupled with the changing needs of users as well as the fact that academic libraries are being held accountable by their parent institutions and accrediting bodies have compelled librarians to reassess and redefine the quality of their service offerings, to enable them offer quality services. Quality service, as propounded by Sahu (2007), is one that fully meets the expectations and requirements of users. It could therefore be argued that a library that provides the most appropriate information to the right user at the right time and in the required form, could be maintaining quality.

Academic libraries are thus being challenged to redefine the organizational structure, the skills and competencies required by staff, collections, services and the features of library facilities (Miller, 2008). This has become essential in order to meet the expectations of users who as a result of these emerging technologies now expect simplified and immediate results which other information providers like Amazon, Google and iTunes are providing and against which library services are now being judged (University of California Libraries, 2005). Thus the quality of the services provided in academic libraries is what makes the difference between academic libraries and the other service providers. Academic libraries must therefore ensure that they meet and uphold such standards.

Academic libraries are striving to deliver the highest quality of service in a bid to prove the quality they bring to the user and the entire organization. Tools have therefore been developed to measure quality in libraries. One such tool which has been developed to measure service quality in libraries is the LibQUAL+™. The LibQUAL+™ which was developed from the SERVQUAL measures service quality using three dimensions. These are service affect, information control and library as a place. These three dimensions are applied to the library environment to measure the perceived quality of services from the perspective of the user. Academic library management has no option but to strive at satisfying these new and evolving expectations of users for library services and resources as well as prove the value they bring to the organization. Meeting these needs could be interpreted as the academic library providing quality services. Thus, academic libraries must ensure that the various tools and instruction needed for users to access the variety of information resources they collectare provided. This could be achieved if academic libraries are able to employ and retain quality staff , provide quality information as well as quality facilities to ensure the easy access of their information resources. This would help attain high quality services to their users thereby ensuring their parent organizations achieve...