Open AccessUsers’ Hierarchical Perspectives on Library Service Quality: A “LibQUAL+” Study
Author(s) -
Martha Kyrillidou,
Fred Heath,
Bruce Thompson
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
college and research libraries/college and research libraries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.886
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 2150-6701
pISSN - 0010-0870
DOI - 10.5860/crl.62.2.147
Subject(s) - factor (programming language) , quality (philosophy) , computer science , service quality , service (business) , order (exchange) , product (mathematics) , quality of service , world wide web , business , marketing , telecommunications , mathematics , philosophy , geometry , epistemology , finance , programming language
This study confirms that a single second-order factor is associated with the delivery of high-quality library services in a research university environment. However, a hierarchical factor analysis also demonstrated that research library users simultaneously think about library quality at multiple levels. The LibQUAL+ diagnostic tool, a product of the ARL’s New Measures Initiative, shows that although a single factor dominates user thinking about library service quality, all of the items used in the survey suffuse this factor. Nevertheless, several first-order factors contribute important unique information to the notion of service quality. As different types of users place varying degrees of importance on the first-order factors, the utility of the hierarchical model is demonstrated.