1. Delivering Service Quality
and Satisfying Library
Customers through Web-based
Services
Presented by:
MICHAEL A. PINTO, MPA
CaAKAp President
Director of Libraries‐University of Saint Louis
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan

2. An Anecdote
One Monday afternoon at around 3:10, Lucky, a
freshmen student went to the library to find the answer
for his assignment about the meaning of suffrage. It
was 20 minutes before his class. As he approached the
library premises, he noticed a long queue of students
along the deposit counter. The students were arguing
about the bags which they deposited and accidentally
exchanged with the stuff of the others. In order to get
rid of the long queue in the deposit counter, he decided
to leave his bag to one of his friends and immediately
went to the shelves to locate the book.

3. Since he was running out of time, he then asked the
help of the librarian in-charge but the librarian looked at
him and said “Can you see that I'm busy? Better go to the
OPAC” I have a lot of reports to do.” Lucky didn’t expect
that kind of treatment to him. In fact, before the incident,
he was even boasting to his former classmates in high
school that the they have a very good library. Further,
during their orientation day, the Director of Library was
very proud to say that the library staff are approachable
and that they are free to approach anyone of them if they
need assistance. Feeling sad and disappointed, he went
immediately to the shelf because he is running out of
time. It took him 15 minutes to locate the book because
the book was placed in another shelf. Further, there was
no student assistant assigned to do shelf reading.

4. To catch up with his 3:30 class, he immediately
went the circulation counter for him to borrow the
book overnight. Unfortunately, he again noticed a long
queue of students waiting for their turn to process the
book in the circulation counter. It took 5 minutes to
have the book officially checked out under his account.
He went out of the library with a feeling of
disappointment and he promised that he will never ask
assistance from the librarian again.

5. POINTS TO PONDER….
• Have you encountered the same scenario
in your library?
• Is there something wrong with the
scenario?
• Are you the type of librarian described in
the anecdote?
• How many Lucky do you have in your
respective libraries?
• What can we do to avoid such?

6. Why Provide the following in
the Library?
S i
Service
Quality
Customers
Satisfaction
WEB Services

7. The Moment of Truth
•• Each customer contact is called a moment of
truth.
• You have the ability to either satisfy or
dissatisfy them when you contact them.
• A service recovery is satisfying a previously
dissatisfied customer and making him a loyal
customer.

8. We should answer following questions:
• Are we delivering the services?
• Are we delivering Quality services?
• Are we able to understand the needs of
our clienteles?
• How can we further improve our services
to meet the customers’ expectations?

9. Vital Considerations of our
Existence..
• Customers not only need SERVICE but
QUALITY SERVICE.
• They are meticulous about their requirements
• Their queries are becoming very complex.

10. The Customer Expectations
• Guests are the judges of service quality
(Berry and Parasuraman, 1991)
• Their Expectations of service greatly influence
their resulting level of satisfaction
• It is far easier to please guests with lower
expectations than those with higher expectations

11. Applied in the Library
Accordingly, it is easy to understand what most
users want when they go to the library.
Wants: Expectations:
‐ Pertinent materials
‐Locate easily
‐ Photocopy
py ‐ Photocopy will work properly
‐ Need assistance
py p p y
‐ Staff will help them promptly
and courteously
In others words, THEY WANT WHAT THEY
WANT WHEN THEY WANT IT!

12. Categories of Service Expectations
1. ESSENTIAL These services meet the fundamental
requirements to continue operation
Ex. , Circulation, Reference, , Instruction g
Program
2. EXPECTED Those which the clients assume the service
p provider should offer in order to p
provide
service
Ex. Photocopying services, internet services, Wifi services
2. OPTIONAL Guests considered these services as an added
bonus that enhances the value of their visit
Ex. Wifi zones, Social Networking sites for the library

13. Why Quality Matters?
• The global market is becoming more
competitive every day
•• Companies continually search for new ways to
gain an edge over their competitors around
the globe
• Global competition and deregulation in a
number of industries is forcing companies to
turn to quality in order to survive

14. Why Quality Matters?
““Quality is our best assurance of
customer allegiance, our strongest
defense against foreign competition,
and the only path to sustained
growth and earnings”” (Welch).

15. Why Quality Matters?
“Quality is in the eye of the beholder”
“If customers say there is quality service, then
there is. If they do not, then there is not. It
does not matter what an organization believes
about his level of service”
(Petter Hernon and Ellen Altman (1996)

16. What is Service Quality?
• The extent to which a service meets customers’
needs or expectation (Lewis and Mitchelle, 1990)
• The difference between customers expectations
of service and perceived service.
• Customers also form perceptions of quality
during the service transaction ‐ how effectively
and efficiently the service was delivered and the
speed and convenience of completing the
transaction

17. In Library Science……
• Is typically defined in terms of gap analysis, or
the gap between customers’’ expectations in
general (for an ideal library and services) and
those perceptions relating to the particular
library and its services. In other words, it is the
gap between customer expectations of those
services in the library in general and those
perceptions of the services offered by a
particular library

18. Dimensions of service quality
Dimension Evaluation Criteria Examples
1. Tangibles: Appearance of physical
facilities
A clean and professional
Physical evidence of looking office
the service
Appearance of service
personnel
office.
A clean and well dressed
librarian
Tools or equipment used
to provide the service
The number of OPAC
p stations, working
computer units, printers,
security devices.
The equipment used in the
technical processing of the
materials

19. Dimension Evaluation Criteria Examples
2. Reliability:
Consistency and
d dbl
Accuracy of bibliographic
An accurate billing
records, billing receipts
receipt, accurate
information needed by a
dependability in
library users
performing the
service g
Performing services when
promised “No borrower’s card, no
book card policy”
Library opens at exact
time.

20. Dimension Evaluation Criteria Examples
3. Responsiveness:
Willingness or
Returning customer phone
calls
Asking users what they need
at the reference desk
section
readiness of
employees to
provide the service
Providing prompt service
Locating and delivering the
books needed by a dean within a period
Handling urgent requests Providing the result of board
exams
Availability of a staff when
needed

21. Dimension Evaluation Criteria Examples
Knowledge and
skills of library staff
4. Assurance: l d d hi hl i d
Knowledge or
competence of
A highly trained
reference librarian,
p student assistants
employees and ability
to convey trust and
confidence
Company name and
reputation
A known and
respected service
provider
Personal
characteristics of
Assist users to find
the information and
library staff will not stop until the
need is provided

22. Dimension Evaluation Criteria Examples
5. Empathy: Caring
and individual
Listening to customer needs
Caring about customer’s
A library staff listening to and
trying to understand a user’s
complaint
attention provided
by employees
the customer s
interests
Informs library users of the
y p y new acquisition.
Providing personalized
attention
A Library staff assist the users
in locating books in the
shelves
Also access with regard to
approachability and ease of
f h i
The librarian is visible and
can be approached anytime a
contact from the customer is lib h
of importance to issues that
may be raised by the
customer.
library user has a query

23. Broad Dimensions of Service Quality
• Reliability – perform promised service dependably
and accurately
• Responsiveness ‐ willingness/readiness to provide
prompt service
• Competence ‐ possess knowledge and skill to
perform the service
• Access ‐ approachability and ease of contact of
service personnel
• Courtesy ‐‐ politeness, consideration, and friendliness
of service personnel cont…

24. Broad Dimensions of Service Quality – cont.
• Communication ‐ keeping customers informed;
listening to customers
• Credibility ‐ trustworthy, believable, honest
• Security ‐ freedom from danger, risk, or doubt
• Understanding/knowing customer ‐‐ knowing
customer’’s needs
•• Tangibles ‐ physical evidence of service
Parasuraman, A. Zeithaml, V., and Berry, L. (1985).

25. Cardinal Principles of Service Quality
• Listening precedes action
• Reliability is key
• Flawless execution of the “basics”
• Pay attention to service design
• Perform service recovery well
• Surprise customers
• Practice “fair play”
• Promote teamwork
• Internal service begets external service
Adapted from Zemke, Ron (2002)

26. ‐ is a multi‐item scale t i lit th di
developed to assess
customer perceptions
- represents service quality as the discrepancy
between a customer's expectations for a
service offering and the customer's
perceptions received p p
of service quality in
service and retail
businesses
of the service received, requiring
respondents to answer questions about both
their expectations and their perceptions
(et al 1988) (Parasuraman et. al.,
1988)
Parasuraman et. al., 1988). The use of
perceived as opposed to actual service
received makes the SERVQUAL measure an
attitude measure that is related to, but not the
same as, satisfaction (Parasuraman et. al.,
1988).

27. SERVQUAL MODEL
Customer’s
Expectation
Customer’s
Perception of Service
Performance
Quality = ‐
GAP
Customer’s
Satisfaction

28. Gaps in Service Quality

29. Queueing Theory
A pioneer:
Agner Krarup Erlang
(1878‐1929)

30. What is queueing theory?
• Mathematical analysis of queues and waiting times
in stochastic systems.
– Used extensively to analyze production and service
processes exhibiting random variability in market demand
(arrival times) and service times.
• Queues arise when the short term demand for
service exceeds the capacity
– Most often caused by random variation in service times
and the times between customer arrivals.
– If long term demand for service capacity the queue will
explode!

31. Components of a Queueing Process
™The calling population
– The population from which customers/jobs originate
– The size can be finite or infinite (the latter is most common)
– Can be homogeneous (only one type of customers/ jobs) or
heterogeneous (several different kinds of customers/jobs)
™The Arrival Process
– Determines how, when and where customer/jobs arrive to the system
– Important characteristic is the customers’/jobs’ inter‐arrival times
– To correctly specify the arrival process requires data collection of
interarrival times and statistical analysis.

32. Components of a queueing process
™™The queue configuration
– Specifies the number of queues
• Single or multiple lines to a number of service
stations
– Their location
– Their effect on customer behavior
• Balking and reneging
– Their maximum size (# of jobs the queue can hold)
• Distinction between infinite and finite capacity

33. Example – Two Queue Configurations
M lti l Multiple Q Queues
Single Queue
Servers
Servers

34. The Psychology of Waiting
by: David Maister
1. Occupied Time Feels Shorter Than Unoccupied
Time.
“Boredom results from being attentive to the
passage of time itself
“A watched pot never boils”
2. People Want to Get Started.
- Acknowledge one’s presence so that they know
that service has started: we know that you are here
- There is a fear of ‘‘being forgotten””

35. The Psychology of Waiting
3. Anxiety Makes Waits Seem Longer
‐ the anxiety was about whether or not one had
been forgotten
4. Uncertain Waits Are Longer than Known,
Finite Waits
‐ The most profound source of anxiety in
waiting is how long the wait will be
“appointment syndrome.”

36. The Psychology of Waiting
5. Unexplained Waits Are Longer than Explained
Waits
‐ The lack of an explanation is one of the prime
factors adding to a customer’s uncertainty about
the length of the wait.
6. Unfair Waits Are Longer than Equitable Waits
“The feeling that somebody has successfully ‘cut in
front’ of you causes even the most patient
customer to become furious. Great care to be
equitable is vital”

37. The Psychology of Waiting
7. The More Valuable the Service, the Longer the
Customer Will Wait
‐ Tolerance for waits depends upon perceived
value of service‐perhaps with the emphasis on
the perception.
8. Solo Waits Feel Longer than Group Waits
‐ Individuals suddenly turn to each other to
express their exasperation, wonder collectively
what is happening, and console each other

38. The Internet and Information Quality
Problems:
1. Information overload
2. Availability of vast quantities of useful
information
3. The potential for inaccurate materials
4. The ephemeral nature of materials
disseminated via personal homepage

39. Information Quality
Information via web:
Quality is often used to refer to sources which
contain original content, or sources which are
accurate and reliable.
Information Quality ‐refers to the fitness for its
purpose of an information source within a
particular setting

40. Web‐ Based Service in the Library
• Libraries are utilizing the Web to provide
services to an increasingly sophisticated and
demanding computer user.
• More and more libraries are using the web to
make the library services available anytime
anywhere.

41. Some Library Services on the WEB
1. Library Website
is an important tool in delivering quality
service to users since the content of the
library can be made accessible to the users
either partially or fully.
http://www.loc.gov
http://libraries,uslt.edu.ph
http://www.mainlib.upd.edu.ph/
http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/library/

42. WEB OPAC ‐‐ The web OPAC of most
libraries are usually integrated in their
website.
This helps library users to know what
are available materials in the library to
save their time especially if they are not
in the campus.

44. • Circulation – Loaning can be done thru the
library website.
• New Acquisition – lists of newly acquired
books can be made available in the library
website
• Reference Service – this can be done
through providing links to online reference
materials in the library website.

46. 2. Social Networking Sites
(Facebook, Twitter, Friendster, etc)
3. Yahoo Groups
4. Yahoo Messenger, Skype, etc
5. Emails
6. Online Journal Subscription
(EBSCO, Pro-Quest, Gale, etc)
7. Open Access Journals
(DOAJ, Philjol, etc)

47. TIPS FOR ADVANCING WEB‐BASED
SERVICES
1. Commit to 24x7 access to library services
2. Take risks and move quickly
3. Utilize all library resources as well as the
Internet
4. Find information partners that complement
library service

48. TIPS FOR ADVANCING WEB‐BASED
SERVICES
5. Use targeted marketing techniques to reach
new audiences
6. Partnerships and collaborations are the
cornerstone of philosophy of service and the
library's practice in advancing Web‐based
services

49. Anti-Quality Attitudes
“There will always be a next time”
“To err is human”
“Better late than never”

50. “Librarianship is a combination
of something you are
(CHARACTER) and some things
you do. (COMPETENCE)”
May DATING at GALING

51. Thank You
for
Listening!
Good Day!!