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Assessing Service Quality

Author: Peter Hernon Ellen Altman

Rs. 1225

Additional information

ISBN 9788170005766
Year of Publication 2009
Binding HardBound
Pages 263
Edition
Language English
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Providing quality service is a key objective for public and academic libraries everywhere. To be truly successful it is critical to know 'how' or 'if' the library and its staff provide quality service to customers. However, service quality is difficult to assess when compared to quantitative output measures such as circulation and Internet use. Until now, libraries have lacked valid library-specific standards or tools to measure the quality of library services, or outcomes.
To the rescue comes this authoritative and practical guide to measuring library services, Assessing Service Quality: Satisfying the Expectation of Library Customer.
Assessing Service Quality puts customers at the center of the evaluation process. It provides cutting-edge measurement strategies and data collection methods to measure service quality in academic and public libraries.
The authors examine service quality standards and explain how services can be quantitatively and qualitatively assessed. Librarians can select the service factors and customers expectations they want to assess. Practical assessment tools provide the keys to measure service quality and identify strengths and weaknesses to narrow the gap between business-as-usual service delivery and customer expectation. Among the topics:
Implementing a complaint tracking system.
Listening to customers through surveys and focus groups.
Planning for continuous service quality improvement.
Numerous tracking forms and measurement tools can be adapted to specific library situation. Samples from academic and public libraries are included, along with a bibliography.

Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. UNDERSTANDING ENDS AND MEANS
Service Quality
Patrons, Users, Clients, or Customers?
The Library Customer Is Still the Customer
Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality
Service Quality----Perception Is Reality
Why Assess Quality?
Other Dimension of Service Quality
The Payoff for the Library
Summary
2. A LOOK IN THE LIBRARY MIRROR
Self- Sufficiency
Peculiarities of Placement
Signage
Staff
Reducing "Dumb" Questions
Frustration
Summary
3. "YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT.
Access and Assistance
A Mission Is More Than Good Intentions
Philosophy and Values
The Library as a System
Customer Service Plans
Library Service Plans
Summary
4. MEASURING AND ASSESSING THE COMPONENTS OF SERVICE QUALITY
What to Measure
How to Measure
Who Decides What Is Important?
The Q Words: Quantity and Quality
Relating "What" to Measure with "How" to Measure Compared to What?
Using the Information about what" and "How" a Question of Balance
Qualitative Analysis: The Missing Portion of the Picture What Now?
Summary
5. WHAT CAN GO WRONG WITH NUMBER
Do More Resources mean Better Service?
Rankings Can Be Not Only Misleading but Also Dangerous
Some Statistics Become Double-Edged Swords All Activities are Not Equal
Counting the Same Items Twice Inflates and Misleads are All These Really Apples?
New Options and Technologies Most Be Included
Summary
6. COMPLIMENT AND COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT
What Is a Complaint?
Why People Do Not Complain
Attitude and Actions
Establishing a Compliment and Complaint Tracking System Continuous Improvement
Summary
7. LISTENING TO CUSTOMERS THROUGH SURVEYS
Measuring Customer Expectations
A Form and process Tailored to Library needs
How to Proceed
Customer Related Measures
Developing the Survey
Continuous Evaluation
Summary
Selected sources on Research Methods
8. LISTENING OT CUSTOMERS THROUGH FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS
Case Studies
Focus Group Interviews
Lost and Never-Gained Customers
Internal Customers
Summary

9. CUSTOMER-RELATED INDICATORS AND REQUIREMENTS
Mining the Automated System
Privacy Issues
Tracking Trends
Capturing Virtual Visitors and Uses of Electronic Information
Customer-Related Indicators for Public Libraries
Customer- Related Indicators for Academic Libraries
Interpretation
Customer Requirements for Both Academic and Public libraries
Summary
10. SATISFACTION AND SERVICE QUALITY: SEPARATE BUT INTERTWINED
What Is Satisfaction?
Ways to Measure Satisfaction
Examples
Recommendation
Customer-Related Measures
The Customer's Voice
Summary
11. INTERPRETING FINDINGS TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE
Basic Concepts
Quadrant Analysis
Survey of Expectations
Focus Group Interviews
Interpreting Market Penetration
Loyalty and Intensity
Interpreting Customer Preferences
Communicating with Stakeholders
Summary
12. EMBRACING CHANGE---CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Competition
What Is Quality
Going beyond "How Much"
Staff Development and Training
Service
Summary ---Time for Action, Not Excuses
Bibliography
Index

Peter Hernon is professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston, where he teaches courses related to Research Methods, Evaluation of Library Services, Statistics, and Government Information. Dr. Hernon received his Ph. D. Degree from Indian University, Bloomington, in 1978. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Academic Librarianship, Founding Editor of Government Information Quarterly, and Co-editor of Library & Information Science Research. Professor Heron is the author or editor of 33 book and more than 120 articles, and he ha received a number of awards for his research and professional contributions.
Ellen Altman was Visiting Professor, Department of Library and Information Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, until July 1997. She has been a faculty member at the Universities of Kentucky and Toronto, and Indiana University. she was Professor and Director of the Graduate Library School at the University of Arizona. She has been Feature Editor of Public Libraries, the official publication of the Public Library Association of the United Stats, since 1992. Dr. Altman is co-editor of "The JAL guide to the Professional Litrature" in the Journal of Academic Librarianship and a member of Library Quarterly's Editorial Board. professor Altman was one of the co-author of Performance Measures for Public Libraries published in 1973. She has served on many professional and governmental committees. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Rutgers School of Communication, Information and Library Studies in 1983, and has been included in Who's who in America since 1981.

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