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The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study in China to show whether open access (OA) affects document delivery services.

The authors conduct a statistical analysis and carry out an investigation through a questionnaire.

Compared with the rapid development of OA around the world, China has published a small number of OA journals. At present, the effect of OA on document delivery service in Capital Normal University Library (CNUL) is positive in that librarians can use OA as an extra resource to perform document delivery services. CNUL users know little about document delivery service or OA, but they frequently look for free Internet resources. CNUL should do more promotion of its document delivery services. Considering users’ behavior and the development of OA in future, the volume of document delivery service may be affected. CNUL should redesign its document delivery service.

The paper will be relevant to librarians interested in OA and document delivery services in China.

Explains that efficient service delivery can often present a problem for marketers due to the nature of the services. Summarizes the two general methods already suggested for improving the efficiency of service delivery – technological and humanistic. Discusses managerial guidelines for the implementation of these approaches to service delivery in several service industries, based on two service classification schemes.

Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities received funding from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to investigate the collaborative provision of library services between the two institiutions. The investigation was, initially, in the area of engineering. The GAELS Project (Glasgow Allied Electronically with Strathclyde) ran between June 1999 and June 2001. An audit of existing information services which demonstrated that perceived information needs of researchers in both engineering faculties did not match the actual needs. Engineering researchers had low use of traditional library services and preferred electronic services. An overlap study of periodicals holdings between the two institutions found duplication in periodicals holdings of around £70,000 per annum. A series of document delivery trials was initiated, including local document delivery between the two sites, a commerical document delivery service for one research group, and a wholly electronic service to the desktop for bioengineers at Strathclyde University. The trials’ findings are presented along with outcomes, both actual and projected, for future collaboration.

Efforts in the electronic grocery shopping, i.e. e‐grocery business, focus especially on the physical distribution of the goods. For example, in the USA there are several e‐grocery service providers with various operating concepts and offering various service levels. The home delivery concept of Streamline is based on a reception box at the customer’s garage or home yard enabling unmanned reception. In contrast, WebVan has launched a home delivery concept where the customer can select a convenient half an hour delivery time window. Various service concepts have been implemented and offered, but has anyone really analysed the differences in cost structures of these two and of other concepts in between the two extremes? Investigates existing home delivery service concepts from different angles and presents concrete simulation results of various parameters representing several home delivery service levels. Eventually, identifying the parameters will give guidelines for the future development of the e‐grocery home delivery services.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospective evaluation of the findings first put forward in the article Efficiency in Service Delivery: Technological or Humanistic Approaches?, and to offer directions for further research and developments in the research area.

Research directions which emanated from the publication of the article have been examined in the light of current service(s) marketing theory and practice. As a result, promising current and future strands of research have been identified.

The original article examined technological and humanistic approaches to improving service delivery efficiency. In doing so, it included two services classification schemes which provided context for the managerial implications presented. The original article was published in 1989. Much has changed since then, especially with regard to technological approaches to service delivery. However, the implications included in the original article for the most part hold. Future researchers are offered a variety of possible directions to pursue in light of the changes, especially in technology, that have occurred since the publication of the original article.

The original article was highly rated and generated discussion and important further research. It has value as part of the history of service(s) marketing research. The retrospective analysis by the author gives a unique insight into processes and thinking associated with understanding key aspects that contribute to the historical development of service(s) marketing, and provides substantial food for thought for future research directions.

Service delivery requires the reception and processing of customer information. To deliver a service that satisfies customers, service job design should consider information needed to complete service delivery tasks. The objective here is to determine if the quantity of customer information received by a service delivery process has implications for service job design.

The aim of this research is to display an applied and descriptive survey, assessing the feasibility of creating an inter‐library loan (ILL) system and document delivery services in public libraries of Fars Province (Iran).

The tool for gathering data in this study is a questionnaire distributed to 254 people from public library managers and librarians in Fars Province. Data analysis was performed with statistical software SPSS (version 16), using descriptive statistics and the Friedman test.

Based on the findings, 69.94 percent of research librarians and 95.9 percent of managers surveyed need to implement an inter‐library loan system. Activity of libraries in Fars Province in the field of ILL and document delivery library services was very low (5.73 percent). Research subjects indicated that the limitations and potential problems in implementation included: no guarantee that prevents damage to resources (97.3 percent), a lack of consistent rules using library services ILL (95 percent), a lack of funding for cooperation among libraries (92/1 percent), a lack of cooperation between public libraries in ILL library (91.3 percent), the high cost of cooperation among libraries, non‐credit provision for main organization (89.4 percent), a lack of equipment such as computers, scanners, copiers, and faxes (89 percent), a lack of librarians familiar with network technologies and databases (83.9 percent), a lack of trust among professionals in the field of librarianship and library document delivery services (80 percent), and a lack of coordination between the center and the library system for implementation (80 percent).

The paper offers recommendations which, if enacted, would lead to a much needed improvement to the ILL and document delivery services of public (and other libraries) in Fars Province.

The paper aims to examine the state of electronic service delivery in Bangladesh. It reviews the structure and operation of the “e-service” centers at the district, sub-district (upazila), and union levels by taking an inventory and assessing their contributions.

The paper is based on a review of the functions and operations of the service delivery agencies with reference to the claims made by the government. It is based on secondary materials obtained from academic studies, government documents, relevant websites, and media reports.

Electronic delivery of public services in Bangladesh has not been effective as planned. There are issues regarding channels of communication, the competence of public officials, human and financial resources, and political will to support the agencies delivering public services.

The paper examines the arrangements, practices, and problems of delivery of public services in Bangladesh through e-service centers at the local levels to determine the progress and potentials of employing digital technology for addressing problems. It proposes the strategy for public service delivery by using digital technology in the country.

This study aims to examine the linkages between digitalisation, public service delivery and corruption in Ghana using survey data from 121 respondents in Ghana. The authors also examine the mediating role public service delivery offers on corruption.

This study relied on the capability theory as its theoretical lens and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) as the data analysis technique.

Results from the PLS-SEM analysis show that public service delivery significantly reduces corruption, whilst digitalisation does not. However, public service delivery significantly mediated the relationship between digitalisation and corruption.

This study’s limitation is that the data was collected from Ghana only. To enhance the generalisability of findings, future research could collect data from multiple countries. In addition, the study did not factor in the moderating effects of demographic variables such as information and communication technology (ICT) literacy. Future research could consider these variables, given the low ICT literacy level of individuals in developing countries. Finally, future researchers could triangulate results with interviews and focus groups to provide more value to the identified questionnaire-based data.

The findings of this study highlight the need for digitalisation to be included in Ghana’s national policy objectives and service delivery objectives. It is essential for the government to ensure broader public engagement with stakeholders, including citizens, to ensure that digitalisation goals are achieved. The study’s results indicate that digitalisation does not significantly influence corruption. This calls for the government of Ghana to consider raising the level of human capital for the successful planning and deployment of e-services. This includes raising citizen ICT literacy and adopting cutting-edge technology to fully realize the benefits of online services. Developing capabilities, e-government leadership, and public sector employees as enablers of online public services should go hand-in-hand. It is also important to build connected capacities in the country and enhance access to information and technology, along with increasing digital infrastructure.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine and offer a dual perspective on the role of digitalisation on public service delivery and corruption whilst considering the mediating role public service delivery offers on corruption.