Measuring Service Quality

A FOLIOz MSQ Course Presentation

Updated September 2009

What is the measurement of service

quality?
To recap, service quality focuses on the needs and
expectations of customers to improve products
and/or services.
The measurement of service quality measures the
gap between the customers level of expectation
and how well they rated the service(s).
Measuring service quality in libraries can be both a
specific project as well as a continual process to
enhance and improve services.1

Why measure service quality?

The benefits of measuring service quality include:
You will be able to identify where services need
improving in the view of your users.
It will enable you to provide services that are more
closely aligned with the expectations of your users.
It will allow you to compare your service quality
with peer institutions in an effort to develop
benchmarks (more on benchmarking on Days 13
and 14!) and understand best practice.2

What should I measure?

You first need to decide if you want to measure a
specific aspect of your library and information
service (e.g. the provision of information skills
training) or the service as a whole?
If you are measuring the whole service, you will
need indicators from each aspect of the service:
e.g. inter-library loans, literature searching,
enquiry handling, training etc.

A quote for reflection

The key feature of which measures we chose
should depend on their ability to provide
feedback on our goals, and the chances of
achieving these goals in an effective and
efficient waySo our measures should start
at our goals, and force us to focus our
attention to take action towards them.3
Reflection questions on next slide

Reflection questions
1.

2.

3.

Think about the measures you currently use in your library

and information service. These can be any type of measure,
for example number of visitors, number of enquiries, any
user surveys you have carried out etc.
What goals do each of these measures relate to? E.g. the
purpose of a recent user survey was to gain user opinions
in order to ultimately ensure the service meets their
information needs.
Are there any measures that do not relate any particular
goals? If so, what is the need for these measures? For
example, you may be required to collect particular
statistics to produce reports for stakeholders.

How do I measure it?

Generally organisations use a mixture of
qualitative and quantitative methods:
Qualitative Methods: interviews, focus
groups, observation (including mystery
shopping!).
Quantitative Methods: surveys
(questionnaires, customer comments cards),
statistics (routine data collection).

How do I measure it?

There are also specific tools that can be used to
measure service quality in organisations. For
example:
ISO Standards
SERVQUAL
LibQUAL+ (specially for use in library and
information services)
RATER scale.

More on these tomorrow!

A final reflection exercise

There are ten general determinants of service quality
that can be applied to most types of service. These
are general criteria that can be used to assess the
quality of service customers expect and receive.
The following determinants and examples are adapted
from: Accounts Commission for Scotland (1999).
Cant get no satisfaction? Using a Gap Approach to
Measure Service Quality [online] Available from:
http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/docs/local/2000/n
r_000627_GAP_service_quality.pdf
[Accessed August 2009].

The Ten Determinants of Service

Quality
1. Access - the ease and convenience of accessing the
service(s).
2. Communication - keeping your users informed;
listening to your users.
3. Competence - having the skills and knowledge to
provide the service(s).
4. Courtesy - politeness, respect, consideration, and
friendliness of staff at all levels.
5. Credibility - trustworthiness, reputation and image.

The Ten Determinants of Service

Quality
6. Reliability - providing consistent, accurate and
dependable service(s); delivering the service that was
promised.
7. Responsiveness - being willing and ready to provide
service(s) when needed.
8. Security - physical safety; financial security;
confidentiality.
9. Tangibles - the physical aspects of the service such as
equipment, facilities, resources.
10. Understanding the customer - knowing individual
customer needs.

Reflection
Before moving on to the next slide, consider
the following:
For each of the ten determinants of service
quality, think of an example of what the
determinant could apply to in your library
and information service.

Examples
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Access - convenient opening times; alternative methods

to accessing services: e.g. telephone and internet/email.
Communication - plain English signs &
pamphlets/guides; suggestions and complaints
procedures.
Competence - all staff knowing, and able to do, their
job.
Courtesy - staff behaving politely and pleasantly.
Credibility - the reputation of the service in the wider
community; staff generating a feeling of trust with
users.

Examples
Reliability - standards defined in local service charters;
accuracy of information provided; doing jobs right first
time; keeping promises and deadlines.
7. Responsiveness - resolving problems quickly; allowing
users to book an appointment for help (e.g. in
literature searching, reference management etc.)
8. Security - ensuring service meets health and safety
requirements, for staff and users.
9. Tangibles - up to date equipment and resources.
10. Understanding the customer - tailoring services where
practical to meet individual needs.
6.

How do you measure up?

More reflection
For the examples you have thought of, rate
your library and information service on a
scale of 0-10, where 0 is not meeting the
determinant at all and 10 is meeting it fully.

References
1.

2.

3.

Kyrillidou, M. & Heath, F.M. (2001) Measuring Service

Quality Introduction. Library Trends: 49 (4) Spring. [Online]
http://web.archive.org/web/20071016044456/http://puboff.lis.
uiuc.edu/catalog/trends/49_4.html
[Accessed August 2009].
Fernekes, B. (2005) Outcome-Based Assessments. Hong Kong
University. [Online] Available from:
http://library.ust.hk/info/other/dec2005/day2.pps [Accessed
August 2009].
Munns, A. (2004) Project Management Newsletter. University
of Dundee. [Online] Available from:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040531231831/http://www.dund
ee.ac.uk/civileng/PM+Newsletter/newsletter005.html
[Accessed August 2009].

Further Reading

Poll, R. (2008). Ten years after: Measuring Quality revised. Performance Measurement
and Metrics: 9 (1): pg. 26. Available to ALIA members via ProQuest at:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?
did=1463024291&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=109526&RQT=309&VName=PQD
[Accessed August 2009] Please note you will need to log in to the ALIA website at:
http://www.alia.org.au/LISjournals/ to access this link.
Kyrillidou, M. Heath, F.H. (2001). Measuring Service Quality. Library Trends: 49 (4):
541-799. Available to ALIA members via ProQuest at:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?
RQT=572&TS=1250603063&clientId=109526&VType=PQD&VName=PQD&VInst
=PROD&PMID=23866&PCID=1436580&SrtM=0&SrchMode=3&aid=1 [Accessed
August 2009] Please note you will need to log in to the ALIA website at:
http://www.alia.org.au/LISjournals/ to access this link.
Phipps, S. (2001) Beyond measuring service quality: Learning from the voices of the
customers, the staff, the processes, and the organization. Library Trends: 49 (4): pg.
635-661. Available to ALIA members via ProQuest at:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?
did=77809156&sid=4&Fmt=4&clientId=109526&RQT=309&VName=PQD
[Accessed August 2009] Please note you will need to log in to the ALIA website at:
http://www.alia.org.au/LISjournals/ to access this link.

The End