LibQUAL

1
LibQUAL Introduction

• Martha Kyrillidou
• Bruce Thompson
• National Library for Health
• London, UK
• August 26, 2005

2
Total Circulation
Note. M. Kyrillidou and M. Young. (2003). ARL
Statistics 2002-03. Washington, D.C. ARL, p.8.
3
Reference Transactions
Note. M. Kyrillidou and M. Young. (2003). ARL
Statistics 2002-03. Washington, D.C. ARL, p.8.
4
Assessment

• The difficulty lies in trying to find a single
  model or set of simple indicators that can be
  used by different institutions, and that will
  compare something across large groups that is by
  definition only locally applicablei.e., how well
  a library meets the needs of its institution.
  Librarians have either made do with
  oversimplified national data or have undertaken
  customized local evaluations of effectiveness,
  but there has not been devised an effective way
  to link the two.
• Sarah Pritchard, Library Trends, 1996

5
LibQUAL Goals

• Improve mechanisms and protocols for evaluating
  libraries
• Develop web-based tools for assessing library
  service quality
• Identify best practices in providing library
  service
• Support libraries seeking to understand changes
  in user behavior
• Assist libraries seeking to re-position library
  services in the new environment

6
Multiple Methodsof Listening to Customers

• Transactional surveys
• Mystery shopping
• New, declining, and lost-customer surveys
• Focus group interviews
• Customer advisory panels
• Service reviews
• Customer complaint, comment, and inquiry capture
• Total market surveys
• Employee field reporting
• Employee surveys
• Service operating data capture
• A SERVQUAL-type instrument is most suitable for
  these methods

Note. A. Parasuraman. The SERVQUAL Model Its
Evolution And Current Status. (2000). Paper
presented at ARL Symposium on Measuring Service
Quality, Washington, D.C.
7
The LibQUAL Premise
PERCEPTIONS SERVICE

• .only customers judge quality
• all other judgments are essentially
• irrelevant

Note. Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry. (1999).
Delivering quality service. NY The Free Press.
8
Extended GAPS Model
Organizational Barriers to SQ
Customers Assessment of SQ
GAP 1
GAP 2
GAP 5
GAP 3
GAP 4
9
22 items
2000 2001 2002 2003
41-items 56-items 25-items 22-items
Affect of Service Affect of Service Service Affect Service Affect
Reliability Library as Place Library as Place Library as Place
Library as Place Reliability Personal Control Information Control
Provision of Physical Collections Self-Reliance Information Access
Access to Information Access to Information
10
Survey Instrument
11
Rapid Growth in Other Areas

• Languages
• American English
• British English
• French
• Dutch
• Swedish
• Consortia
• Each may create 5 local questions to add to their
  survey

• Types of Institutions
• Academic Health Sciences
• Academic Law
• Academic Military
• College or University
• Community College
• European Business
• Hospital
• Public
• State
• Countries
• U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands,
  Sweden, France, South Africa, Egypt, Australia

12
LibQUAL Participants
13
World LibQUAL Survey
14
LibQUAL Resources

• LibQUAL Website http//www.libqual.org
• Publications http//www.libqual.org/publication
  s
• Events and Training http//www.libqual.org/even
  ts
• Gap Theory/Radargraph Introduction
  http//www.libqual.org/Information/Tools/libqual
  presentation.cfm
• LibQUAL Procedures Manual http//www.libqual.o
  rg/Information/Manual/index.cfm