Just another management fad? The implications of TQM for library and information services

Abstract

The quality issue represents one of the greatest challenges facing managers in the 1990s. This paper presents an overview of the development of quality management in library and information services (LIS) on the basis of its evolution from quality control, through quality assurance (QA), to total quality management (TQM). This development is exemplified by case studies of UK and North American LIS which have been required to comply with quality strategies of their parent organizations, and those which have adopted unilateral strategies.