The relationship between academic library usage and educational performance in Kuwait

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine perceptions of university library usage to consider factors that influence educational achievement of academic library users.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses validated questionnaires from 792 students, 143 academics and 121 administrators to measure five library factors. Three university libraries, which are based in Kuwait, were included in the questionnaire data.

Findings

The study found that only a minority of library users' educational achievement improves through library usage. The findings were lower than expected prior to completing the study.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of the study is that it did not include library staff as participants during questionnaires and interviews.

Originality/value

The study adds to the current literature of research based in Kuwait, and is one of the first studies to use private university libraries for quantitative study purposes. This study introduces an entirely new academic library evaluation tool called the Factors of Academics Library Usage (FALU).

Citation

Alharbi, A. and Middleton, M. (2012), "The relationship between academic library usage and educational performance in Kuwait", Library Management, Vol. 33 No. 1/2, pp. 86-94. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121211203347