The dimensions that construct the evaluation of service quality in academic libraries

Abstract

The objective of this study is to identify the dimensions that determine the customers' evaluation of service quality in academic libraries. One university library each in England and Finland and two in Japan were selected to conduct a questionnaire survey based on the GAP theory of SERVQUAL that has led discussions on the assessment of service quality in marketing theory and practice. Since the actual delivery of information as a service outcome is as important as the service process in libraries, attributes inherent to libraries were incorporated into the survey. Subjecting data obtained to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that library service quality consists of four dimensions: effect of service (personal), library as ba (place), collections and access, and effect of service (organizational), which are different from the five SERVQUAL dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy.

Citation

Nagata, H., Satoh, Y., Gerrard, S. and Kytömäki, P. (2004), "The dimensions that construct the evaluation of service quality in academic libraries", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 53-65. https://doi.org/10.1108/14678040410546073