AN ANALYSIS OF LIBRARY SERVICES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AS PERCEIVED BY ADMINISTRATORS, FACULTY MEMBERS, AND STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) library in its efforts to support the various needs of its faculty members, administrators, and student body, and to determine its level of effectiveness in achieving its goals and objectives. Even more specifically, the intent was to explore the large number of services provided by the university library and to examine their important role in shaping the educational and research needs of its administrators, faculty members, and students.;A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The population of the study was composed of 262 students, 80 faculty members, and 75 administrators. Means, responses in terms of percentages, and analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) statistics were used to analyze the findings and test the hypotheses.;Findings: (1) Of the three groups, faculty members were the most displeased with the services performed by the UDC library; (2) The significant differences in the perceptions of the three groups on the issues presented by the questionnaire items were attributed to: (a) the pattern of responses of the faculty members, and (b) the differences in the respondents' range of "agreement" or "disagreement" with the questionnaire items; (3) Three of the five tested hypotheses were found to be true; (4) Existing services at the UDC library were not sufficiently responsive to its clientele; and (5) A significant proportion of the responses of the three groups on many of the questionnaire items fell in the "No Opinion" category.;The study showed that faculty members indicated the UDC library does not support the curriculum needs of the students. Furthermore, it found that many of the services performed by the UDC library are not centered around the library's clientele. All three groups agreed that the comfort needs of the library users are not being adequately met. Perhaps the most interesting finding was that many students, faculty members, and administrators are unaware of many of these services.;Hypotheses were tested to investigate the perceptions of students, faculty members, and administrators regarding: (1) the comfort level of the UDC library; (2) the capabilities of the informational aspects of the library; (3) the adequacy of the library in conveniently meeting the needs of its clientele; (4) the assistance and guidance given library users by the library staff; and (5) the effectiveness of the library in terms of serving the curriculum and research needs of the university.