Toward a TQM Paradigm: Using SERVQUAL to Measure Library Service Quality

Abstract

This study provides the results of a survey conducted in the fall of 1994 by the Sterling C. Evans Library to measure service quality. This general user survey provided feedback from customers on their minimum, perceived, and desired levels of service from an academic library. The devised measuring instrument is based on SERVQUAL, a service quality survey created by Leonard L. Berry, A. Parasuraman, and Valarie A. Zeithaml. The SERVQUAL survey is designed to measure service quality in five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Survey results showed a discrepancy in the quality of the services provided by the library and those desired by its customers.