Assessing the quality of services at an academic library
Customers usually have high expectations on the services they receive. The LibQUAL model was employed in this study to investigate the quality of services at an academic library. The participants were chosen from the five colleges in a university using simple random sampling. Two hundred participant...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023096573 |
| _version_ | 1797384009482764288 |
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| author | Kwaku Anhwere Barfi Seth Kobina Parbie Christopher Kwame Filson Mathias Vondee Teye Kwame Kodua-Ntim Eunice Ayensu |
| author_facet | Kwaku Anhwere Barfi Seth Kobina Parbie Christopher Kwame Filson Mathias Vondee Teye Kwame Kodua-Ntim Eunice Ayensu |
| author_sort | Kwaku Anhwere Barfi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Customers usually have high expectations on the services they receive. The LibQUAL model was employed in this study to investigate the quality of services at an academic library. The participants were chosen from the five colleges in a university using simple random sampling. Two hundred participants were chosen from each college. In all, 1000 participants (including faculty members, postgraduate and undergraduate students) were selected for the study. The study revealed that users knew and used the library's services. The researchers delivered the questionnaires to the respondents at the library. The results showed that the library service quality (LSQ) fell short of users' expectations. There was a statistically significant difference in LSQ between gender of users. The users' expectations of the library's level of service were out of sync or mismatch. The variations could be attributed to differences in information needs of users. This requires the library to assess its services from users' perspective regularly. The use of the LibQUAL model provides useful information that library management can employ for developing service quality measurement scale and planning for service quality. The study also provides information about services that needs improvement, so that library staff could manage users' expectations and satisfaction in a better way. University authorities expect good return of investment made into the development of the library. Therefore, libraries should improve upon their services to boost the image of the Universities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:29:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7380c17a59c24f76927f9e4fa57907c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:29:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-7380c17a59c24f76927f9e4fa57907c92023-12-21T07:33:34ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402023-12-01912e22449Assessing the quality of services at an academic libraryKwaku Anhwere Barfi0Seth Kobina Parbie1Christopher Kwame Filson2Mathias Vondee Teye3Kwame Kodua-Ntim4Eunice Ayensu5Department of Information Technology & Research Support, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana; Corresponding author.Department of Information Technology & Research Support, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, GhanaDepartment of Collection Management and Technical Services, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, GhanaDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Botswana, Gaborone, BotswanaDepartment of Information Technology & Research Support, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, GhanaDepartment of Information Technology & Research Support, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, GhanaCustomers usually have high expectations on the services they receive. The LibQUAL model was employed in this study to investigate the quality of services at an academic library. The participants were chosen from the five colleges in a university using simple random sampling. Two hundred participants were chosen from each college. In all, 1000 participants (including faculty members, postgraduate and undergraduate students) were selected for the study. The study revealed that users knew and used the library's services. The researchers delivered the questionnaires to the respondents at the library. The results showed that the library service quality (LSQ) fell short of users' expectations. There was a statistically significant difference in LSQ between gender of users. The users' expectations of the library's level of service were out of sync or mismatch. The variations could be attributed to differences in information needs of users. This requires the library to assess its services from users' perspective regularly. The use of the LibQUAL model provides useful information that library management can employ for developing service quality measurement scale and planning for service quality. The study also provides information about services that needs improvement, so that library staff could manage users' expectations and satisfaction in a better way. University authorities expect good return of investment made into the development of the library. Therefore, libraries should improve upon their services to boost the image of the Universities.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023096573Academic libraryQuality of serviceLibQUAL modelUser expectationAwarenessUsage of library services |
| spellingShingle | Kwaku Anhwere Barfi Seth Kobina Parbie Christopher Kwame Filson Mathias Vondee Teye Kwame Kodua-Ntim Eunice Ayensu Assessing the quality of services at an academic library Heliyon Academic library Quality of service LibQUAL model User expectation Awareness Usage of library services |
| title | Assessing the quality of services at an academic library |
| title_full | Assessing the quality of services at an academic library |
| title_fullStr | Assessing the quality of services at an academic library |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing the quality of services at an academic library |
| title_short | Assessing the quality of services at an academic library |
| title_sort | assessing the quality of services at an academic library |
| topic | Academic library Quality of service LibQUAL model User expectation Awareness Usage of library services |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023096573 |
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