Vignettes, brief descriptions of fictional characters and situations, serve as a tool to study people's lives, perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes about specific situations. Although not widely used in library and information science (LIS) research, vignettes can depersonalize responses to controversial situations or behavioral responses related…

This paper presents a developed higher education quality assessment model (HEQAM) that can be applied for enhancement of university services. This is because there is no universal unified quality standard model that can be used to assess the quality criteria of higher education institutes. The analytical hierarchy process is used to identify the…

Regular evaluation of archival reference services is essential to ensure that users have appropriate access to the information they need. Archives New Zealand has been measuring customer satisfaction for many years using self-completion questionnaires but recently trialed two new methods of evaluation, using external research companies. One…

This paper proposes utilizing a combination of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD)-Kano model as a useful tool to evaluate service quality. The digital library of the University of Guadalajara (Mexico) is presented as a case study. Data to feed the QFD-Kano model was gathered by an online questionnaire that was made available to users on the…

This study aims to present a new model measuring the economic value of public libraries, combining the dissonance minimizing (DM) and information bias minimizing (IBM) format in the contingent valuation (CV) surveys. The possible biases which are tied to the conventional CV surveys are reviewed. An empirical study is presented to compare the model…

This handbook represents a first attempt to provide library practitioners with practical guidance and tools for measuring the quality of library service. Excerpts from a wide range of literature provide a creative approach to understanding the needs of potential users. A variety of actual instruments for measuring the effectiveness of service and…

Four instruments to be used in developing school library and media programs are included in this package. Two questionnaires, addressed to students, teachers, administrators, and library staff, inventory current services and determine service priorities. Seventeen charts for data collection and a 20-page costing matrix are provided. Instructions…

Reviews the various techniques and methods employed to measure user preferences with respect to the provision of particular library services. The ranking of user preferences, direct judgment methods of measurement, tradeoff analysis, and conjoint analysis are among the topics discussed. A reference list is included. (JL)

This study examined whether user satisfaction with library services is affected by certain objective and subjective librarian behaviors exhibited during the reference interview. A patron survey was conducted during July 1993 in three branches of Cuyahoga County Public Library, located in northeastern Ohio. The sample was determined by the patrons…

Discussion of ways libraries deal with patrons with various disabilities focuses on a project that investigated the effects of bibliographic instruction on mentally retarded adults using public libraries. Evaluation of the instruction by examining patrons' use of their library cards is described, and results of pretests and posttests are…

A survey of users of the teachers' library at the San Diego County Department of Education was conducted to assess the level of effectiveness of the library's collection and services in four general areas: (1) professional literature and curriculum collection, (2) publications from the professional resource and development service, (3) textbook…

Describes the assessment plan developed for the interlibrary loan department at Central Missouri State University library. Highlights include the need for assessment of interlibrary loan services; client satisfaction; internal peer review; and library services operations review. Questionnaires and surveys are appended. (LRW)

Developed as part of a three-year project funded by the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), this manual is designed to present librarians in the State of California with an alternative, "sense-making" approach to assessing the information needs of patrons and potential patrons and to assessing accountability, i.e., whether…

Results of a 4-month library self-evaluation program conducted by staff members at Carnegie-Mellon University Libraries are reported in this document. The study was conducted using the Academic Library Development Program (ALDP), a self-improvement strategy for libraries to evaluate and develop their performance. The study team consisting of four…

This library evaluation is based primarily on responses of some 320 members of the professional research staff and 50 members of the professional administrative staff at the Langley Research Center to a questionnaire. Evaluation first considers the library as a whole as only one part of a total system of information sources serving professionals.…