Questioning LibQUAL+: Critiquing its Assessment of Academic Library Effectiveness

Edgar, Bill (2006) Questioning LibQUAL+: Critiquing its Assessment of Academic Library Effectiveness. In Grove, Andrew, Eds. Proceedings 69th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 43, Austin (US).

Full text available as:
PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or other PDF viewer.

View statistics for this eprint

Abstract

Advertised as a total market survey of an academic library’s users, LibQUAL+ has risen to prominence in recent years as a means of assessing academic library effectiveness. In light of this, this conceptual paper raises and addresses four questions arising from its survey instrument. Doing so reveals that LibQUAL+ only partially conceptualizes a library’s operations. Furthermore, it emphasizes users’ eventual outcomes, such as improved grades, but does not
explicitly conceptualize users’ more immediate need for epistemological value in the form of information, education, or persuasion. Finally, LibQUAL+’s survey correctly emphasizes the role of user self-reliance and satisfaction, but it unduly deemphasizes users’ need for professional information assistance and their actual experience of quality library service.

Keywords:	library surveys ; user surveys ; library effectiveness ; library assessment
Subjects:	A. Theoretical and general aspects of libraries and information. C. Users, literacy and reading. > CB. User studies.
ID Code:	8209
Deposited By:	Medeiros, Norm
Deposited On:	19 December 2006
All fields:	Show all fields

Association of Research Libraries (2005) LibQUAL+ Spring 2005 Survey: Duke University http://www.lib.duke.edu/libqual/Washington D.C.: Association of Research Libraries

Association of Research Libraries (2005) LibQUAL+ World Wide Web site http://www.libqual.org

Asubonteng, P., McCleary, K.J., & Swan, J. (1996) ServQUAL revisited: A critical review of service quality Journal of Services Marketing 10(6), 62-81

Atkinson, R. (1996) Library functions, scholarly communication and the foundation of the digital library: Laying claim to the control zone Library Quarterly 66, 239-65

Baker, S.L. & Lancaster, F.W. (1993) The Measurement and Evaluation of Library Services Arlington, VA: Information Resources Press

Cook, C. & Heath, F. (2001) Users’ perceptions of library service quality: A LibQUAL+ qualitative study Library Trends 49(4), 548-584

Cook, Heath, F. & Thompson, B. (2002) Score norms for improving library service quality: A LibQUAL+ study Portal: Libraries and the Academy 2(1) 13-26

Cook, C., Heath, F., & Thompson, B. (2003) ‘Zones of tolerance’ in perceptions of library service quality: A LibQUAL+ study Portal: Libraries and the Academy 3(1), 113-123

Cook, C., Heath, F., Thompson, B. & R. Thompson. (2001) LibQUAL++: Service quality assessment in research libraries IFLA Journal 4, 265-268

Cook, C., Heath, F., Thompson, B. & R. Thompson. (2001) The search for new measures: The ARL LibQUAL+ Project-A preliminary report Portal: Libraries and the Academy 1(1), 103-112

Cook, C. & Thompson, B. (2000) Higher order factor analytic perspectives on users’ perceptions of library service quality Library & Information Science Research 22(4), 292-404

Cook, C. & Thompson, B. (2001) Psychometric properties of scores from the Web-based LibQUAL+ study of perceptions of library service quality Library Trends 49(4), 585-604

Cook, C. & Thompson, B. (2000) Reliability and validity of SERVQUAL scores used to evaluate perceptions of library service quality Journal of Academic Librarianship 26(4), 248-258

Cullen, R. (2001) Perspectives on user satisfaction surveys Library Trends 49(4), 662-686

De Jager, K. (2002) Impacts and outcomes: Searching for the most elusive indicators of academic library performance In J. Stein, M. Kyrillidou, & D. Davis, Eds. Meaningful Measures for Emerging Realities: Proceedings of the 4th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services 291-297. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries

Ford, G. (1989) Approaches to performance measurement: Some observations on principles and practice British Journal of Academic Librarianship 4 (2), 74-87

Ford, G. (2002) Strategic uses of evaluation and performance measurement In J. Stein, M. Kyrillidou, & D. Davis (Eds.) Meaningful Measures for Emerging Realities: Proceedings of the 4th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services 19-30 Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries

Gronroos, C. (1983) Strategic Management and Marketing in the Service Sector (report 83-104), Cambridge, MA: Marketing Sciences Institute.

Heath, F., Cook, C., Kyrillidou, M. & Thompson, B. (2002) ARL index and other validity correlates of LibQUAL+ scores Portal: Libraries and the Academy 2(1), 27-42

Heath, F.M., Kyrillidou, M., & Askew, A. (2004) Libraries Act on their LibQUAL+ Findings: From Data to Action Journal of Library Administration 40(3/4)

Hernon P. & Nitecki, D. (2001) Service quality: A concept not fully explored Library Trends 49(4), 687-708

Hiller, S. (2001) Assessing user needs, satisfaction, and library performance at the University of Washington Libraries Library Trends 49(4), 605-625

Kilbourne, W. E., Duffy, J.A., Duffy, M., & Giarchi, G. (2005) The applicability of SERVQUAL in cross-national measurements of health-care quality Journal of Services Marketing 18(6/7)

Kyrillidou, M. (2002) From input and output measures to quality and outcome measures, or, from the user in the life of the library to the library in the life of the user Journal of Academic Librarianship 28(1), 42-46

Lane, G. (2002) Developing outcome-based indicators: Resource’s learning and access standard In J. Stein, M. Kyrillidou, & D. Davis Meaningful Measures for Emerging Realities: Proceedings of the 4th Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services 137-143. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries

Lassar, W.M., Manolis, C., Winsor, R.D. (2000) Service quality perspectives and satisfaction in private banking Journal of Services Marketing 18(3), 244-274

Lincoln, Y.S. (2002) Insights into library services and users from qualitative research Library and Information Science Research 24, 4-16

McGrath, W.E. (2002) Explanation and prediction: Building a unified theory of librarianship, concept and review Library Trends 50 (3), 350-370

Palmer, A. & O’Neil, M. (2003) The effects of perceptual processes on the measurement of service quality The Journal of Services Marketing 17(2/3), 254-271

Revill, D.H. (1990) Performance measures for academic libraries Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science 294-332. New York: M. Dekker

Sureshchandar, G.S., Rajendran, C., & Anantharaman, R.N. (2002) Determinants of customer-perceived service quality: A confirmatory factor analysis approach Journal of Services Marketing 16(1), 9-34

Thompson, B., Cook C., & Heath, F. (2001) How many dimensions does it take to measure users’ perceptions of libraries: A LibQUAL++ study Portal: Libraries and the Academy 1(2), 129-138

Thompson, B., Cook, C. & Heath, F. (2003) Structure of perceptions of service quality in libraries: A LibQUAL++ study Structural Equation Modeling 10(3), 456-464

Thompson, B., Cook, C. & Heath, F. (2003) Two short forms of the LibQUAL++ survey: Assessing users’ perceptions of library service quality Library Quarterly 73(4), 453-465

Thompson, B., Cook C., & Kyrillidou, M. (2005) Concurrent validity of LibQUAL++ scores: What do LibQUAL++ scores measure? Journal of Academic Librarianship 31(6), 517-522

Thompson, B. Cook C., & Thompson, B. (2002) Reliability & structure of LibQUAL++ scores: Measuring perceived service quality Portal: Libraries and the Academy 2(3), 3-12

Wei, Y., Thompson, B. & Cook, C. (2005) Scaling users’ perceptions of library service quality using item response theory: A LibQUAL++ study Portal: Libraries and the Academy 5(1), 93-104

Archive Staff Only: edit this record