User Perception Towards Service Quality Evaluation Of University Libraries In Sri Lanka

Currently,in an 'open/service-oriented information society' technology has increased access to content by bringing up information resources to one's fingertips and the provision of such services are increasingly becoming the signifier of excellence of quality.Therefore,over the years,the role of conventional university libraries has led to sophisticated service centers superseding the traditional storehouse concept.Thus compared to the global situation,university libraries in Sri Lanka have attempted to provide overall best services for their targeted users.But,in the Sri Lankan context some questions such as what are the users' right information desires,are these desires being fulfilled,what are the evaluation criteria for library quality,what are the reasons for the lack of frequent library usage and why do people gradually drop out from libraries,what steps have to be taken to provide better services and how to retain registered users while attracting new ones remain unanswered.For an understanding of these matters and how the existing shortcomings can be fixed,sound studies are vital.This study aimed to evaluate the user perception and overall quality of services at university libraries in Sri Lanka.It provided suggestions to overcome identified difficulties encountered during the reception of library services.As the first LibQUAL survey conducted in Sri Lanka,this survey helped to assess current service performance(perceived services),users' minimum and maximum(desired services)expectations and service quality gaps(adequacy and superiority)of their main user groups.More detailed yet concise information of this research has been divided into six chapters that give a clear picture of user perception towards service quality in university libraries in Sri Lank and a brief introduction of each chapter has given below.Chapter 1:IntroductionThe introductory chapter provided an overview of the study.The chapter presented a conceptual background and the significance of the study while providing a problem statement.The problem statement explained clearly,what was the urgent need of evaluating the users' perception of service quality in university libraries in Sri Lanka.Prior to giving the research questions,five objectives were outlined:identification of user perception on perceived services,users' expectations,service quality gaps(Service Adequacy Gap Score,Service Superiority Gap Score and Zone of Tolerance scores)and users 'difficulties encountered from the receipt of library services.Finally,this study determined the necessary modifications to upgrade the service quality of the university libraries in Sri Lanka.This chapter also cited the method that would be used to accomplish the objectives of this study,its innovation and the structure of the dissertation.Chapter 2:Literature reviewChapter two reviewed the related literature of the field of service quality evaluation.It addressed the studies conducted related to the library environment and its employees,information content and the library as place.Principally,international and local perspectives of service quality evaluation were examined.Finally,this chapter focused on the LibQUAL surveys which have been conducted in different countries.A reviewed of these information concluded that the behavior and attitude of the library employees directly influenced the effective library services while information content and its effective balance are also considerable factor for its users.Young users preferred E-collections than printed,they are willing to search material on their own and they value the library's physical environments' quality as well.Chapter 3:Overview of service quality and LibQUALThis chapter reviews existing theories related to user perception of service quality evaluation.Quality evaluation theories clearly highlighted the importance of customer focus,staff motivation,a better understanding of services,the evaluation of user feedbacks and effective customer care.But the majority of theories did not provide proper evaluation methods or generalized methods to apply to every service sector.But LibQUAL developed to assess library service quality based on the SERVQUAL model.Therefore,this study employed LibQUAL as the evaluation criteria.Finally the chapter provided a detailed view of LibQUAL and its suitability in the current study.Chapter 4:Research methodologyIt focused on the research design and methodology.Firstly,the research population and sample,data collection technique,the structure of the questionnaire,data analysis,and data interpretation were described.The study employed the qualitative descriptive mixed method.The sample was randomly selected:1806 university library users in 15 universities in Sri Lanka.Questionnaire survey,interviews and web survey was employed.User questionnaire and librarians'questionnaire were used.The user questionnaires were moderated based on a modified Sinhala translated version of LibQUAL.The Librarians' questionnaire was moderated to collect information such as library collections,library employees,total enrolled users,library IT infrastructure facilities,library automation,facilities available in the sampled libraries.Interview method was employed to collect data from librarians and randomly selected users.The web survey evaluated the quality of electronic services provided by the university library websites.The research design for this dissertation was presented in two stages.The first stage,presented data collected from the librarians' questionnaire and the second stage of the survey which is an exploratory study,presented the quality dimensions collected data from the users' questionnaire.Chapter 5:Survey of service quality in university libraries in Sri LankaChapter five interpreted the results of the survey.The first part of the chapter provided the librarian's perspectives and latter presents the users' perception.The most important section of this chapter was the gap exploration of the services at the proportional and dimensional levels.Then,it identified users' difficulties while they received services at the libraries.The study concluded that there were only seven(31%)propositions in the entire survey that the users' minimum expectations were met.They included giving users' individual attention,employees' knowledge to answer users' questions and their caring fashion,remote accessibility of electronic resources,quiet comfortable and inviting location which inspires studying and learning.Comparing "library as place" and "affect of service","information control" dimension received lowest perceived performance level at the survey.In contrast,a number of user expectations on resources(printed/electronic),library website and information searching tools were fewer satisfaction areas.Users mostly complained on issues related to locating materials and the fact that,they were less aware about the resources and services that the libraries offered.Furthermore,the majority of users negatively responded on internet related matters,unavailability of sufficient books for their own field of study in Sinhala language,noisy environment since people can be loud,telephone conversations and user behaviors.From users'views libraries could not meet minimum users' expectations except in some cases.Finally,the examination of users' minimum expectations showed that the proposition of "making information easily accessible for independent use" was most important and the proposition of "giving users individual attention" was relatively less important.Chapter 6:Conclusion and recommendationsChapter six summarized the entire research,making conclusions and providing recommendations.It concluded the research findings under three dimensions of LibQUAL:affect of service,information control,and library as place.The recommendations and implementations of the study were discussed comprehensively.This study mainly identified 15 areas which were in need of improvement.Continuous formal and attractive online and offline user education programs,sufficient staff training to upgrade their professional knowledge and inculcate positive attitudes among them,the increment of the minimum staff requirements especially for IT related purposes,the renovation and proper maintenance of library buildings and repair of the equipment which were vital to providing effective services for users.In addition to that,frequent user survey is also essential for the better understanding of users ever-changing desires.