چکیده:
This study examines the quality of services at Iran’s Central Library of
Management and Planning Organization (MPO) from the viewpoint of its
users. The research was conducted in two phases: First, the library and its
services were compared to the Standards for Special Libraries published by
the National Library of Iran (NLI). The library was found to meet most of
the standards. Second, the quality of service provided by the library at
expected and observed levels was examined from the viewpoint of
organizational and non-organizational members using a modified version of
the SERVQUAL questionnaire. Findings showed a significant was
difference between two (expected and observed) levels, meaning that users’
expectations have not been met. The most significant difference related to
“appropriate collection of information resources”. The results also showed
there was no significant difference between organizational and
non-organizational users’ opinions about the quality of services. Findings
also showed that “relevant information services” was the priority of user
groups-users emphasized the need for timely and accurate information.
There was a correlation between the rate at which the library conformed to
the national standards and users’ expectations of quality.
خلاصه ماشینی:
com Abstract This study examines the quality of services at Iran's Central Library of Management and Planning Organization (MPO) from the viewpoint of its users.
Second, the quality of service provided by the library at expected and observed levels was examined from the viewpoint of organizational and non-organizational members using a modified version of the SERVQUAL questionnaire.
Keywords: Management and Planning Organization, National Library of Iran, SERVQUAL Questionnaire, Organizational Users, Non Organizational Users, Quality of Services.
This study aimed to address the questions of whether the library currently met NLI (National Library of Iran) standards for special libraries, and whether the actual level of services the library is providing met the expected one.
Some of them used the modified SERVQUAL to assess users' expectations and perceptions about the quality of library services.
They found a discrepancy between user expectations and perceptions of service quality with respect to the dimension of reliability (Coleman, Xiao, Bair, & Chollett, 1997).
Nimsomboon and Nagata (2003) examined the service quality of Thammasat University Library from users' perspectives.
Several studies supported the SERVQUAL as a reliable and valid instrument to investigate the service quality in information centers (Jiang, Klein, & Carr, 2002; Parasuraman, et al.
Table 2 Wilcoxon Test Results {مراجعه شود به فایل جدول الحاقی} After testing users' overall expectations and perceptions of the library services, the quality of services in each components of the SERVQUAL instrument was examined.
Results revealed that in all but one dimension, there is a significant difference between users' expectations and actual services levels.