Users' perceptions of library service quality: A LibQUAL+ qualitative study

SERVICE MARKETING HAS IDENTIFIED THE CUSTOMER or user as the most critical voice in assessing service quality. Before assessments can be made of servi ce quality in ARL libraries, it is essential to investigate what connotes s ervice quality in the minds of library users. Today the dimensions of libra ry service quality among the ARL cohort are not fully understood from the u ser perspective. The LibQUAL+ project attempts to identify those dimensions and measure the gaps between expected service and perceived service in eac h dimension. This article describes the interviews conducted with users of research libraries across North America in the first round of work on the s till-evolving LibQUAL+ instrument. The interviews provided a rich pool of i nformation about the users' own behaviors, their perceptions of what a libr ary should provide, and their interactions with that important resource as they pursued their diverse objectives at their respective universities. Ana lysis of the interviews contributes to the identification of the dimensions of library service quality; which will be further tested in future iterati ons of the LibQUAL+ tool.