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Service quality is an issue separate from internal observations of effectiveness and efficiency, and cannot adequately be conveyed by output and performance measures. Considerations of service quality require librarians to regard management and the provision of service from an entirely new perspective- from the viewpoint of the library user, for whom the outcome of a trip to the library has far greater relevance than the institutions' outputs. This book examines service quality, identifies its essential elements (including electronic service delivery), and discusses ways in which it can be assessed quantitatively and qualitatively. Based on a two-year research study, this book encourages every manager to consider the impact of accountability on the library's role within the larger organization. It identifies simple and practical methods by which to implement measures representing service quality and to narrow the gap between library services and customer expectations.
List of contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
The Customer is Key. Evaluation. Service Quality as Reflected in the Literature
Application of Service Quality to Academic Libraries. Surveying Customers
Creating a Service Quality Information System
Looking at Service Quality in Your Library
A Critical Leadership Role
Service Quality: A Critical Issue Confronting Higher Education
Appendix A: Service Quality for Library Users: A Survey Instrument
Appendix B: Library Customer Survey
Appendix C: Participants to Phase One
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index.
About the author
Peter Hernon is professor of library and information science at Simmons College, Boston, MA. He is the author of 50 books, including Library Unlimited's
Viewing Library Metrics from Different Perspectives and
Making a Difference: Leadership and Academic Libraries; and Praeger's
Federal Information Policies in the 1990s: Views and Perspectives.
