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 customer’s 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 way…So 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. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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). Can’t get no satisfaction? Using a Gap
Approach to Measure Service Quality [online]
Available from: http://www.audit-
scotland.gov.uk/docs/local/2000/nr_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. Access - convenient opening times; alternative
methods to accessing services: e.g. telephone and
internet/email.
2. Communication - “plain English” signs &
pamphlets/guides; suggestions and complaints
procedures.
3. Competence - all staff knowing, and able to do, their
job.
4. Courtesy - staff behaving politely and pleasantly.
5. Credibility - the reputation of the service in the
wider community; staff generating a feeling of trust
with users.
 Examples
6. 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.
 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. 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].
2. Fernekes, B. (2005) Outcome-Based Assessments. Hong Kong
University. [Online] Available from:
http://library.ust.hk/info/other/dec2005/day2.pps [Accessed
August 2009].
3. Munns, A. (2004) Project Management Newsletter. University
of Dundee. [Online] Available from:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040531231831/http://www.dun
dee.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&V
Type=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