Reference service evaluation at an African academic library: the user perspective

Abstract

Purpose: This paper provides a detailed discussion of a large-scale library reference evaluation study conducted at the University of Education, Winneba (UAE) in Ghana. The study seeks to evaluate the reference service from the user perspective, focusing on how users use and perceive the service.Design/methodology/approach: Self-administered survey was used as the data collection instrument. One thousand questionnaires were distributed to library users in a three-week period, and the response rate was 63.7%. Findings:The reference service had a high non-use rate of 42.6%, which was primarily attributed to library users' self-sufficiency and lack of awareness of the service. The top three motivations for library users to use the reference service were class assignments, personal interests, and using library facilities. Although their overall altitude was positive, users felt that reference librarians were more successful at exhibiting customer service qualities than performing tasks related to identifying users' information needs and searching/locating relevant information to fulfill the needs. Practical implications:The knowledge gained from this study will deepen the understanding of how the reference service is utilized and perceived by library users and offer insights on how to enhance the services to optimize the user experience.Originality/value: This study yields an enriched view of reference service provision in the African context. Its findings will help other academic libraries in Africa successfully plan and implement their own reference evaluation efforts and ultimately encourage more evidence-based library practices in the developing world.

The Effectiveness of Reference Services and Users’ Satisfaction in the Academic Library

“…By having a friendly figure and welcoming greeting in the first meeting can make the users feel more comfortable to ask a question. A study by (Luo & Buer, 2015) found that there are cases where users avoid using the reference services because they do not feel comfortable talking to the librarians. This situation is called as library anxiety where users feel nervous or worry to approach the librarians at the reference desks.…”

“…It is considered as the heart of library services by several authors in their works (Das, Gurey, & Saha, 2009;Ranasinghe, 2012). Therefore, it is important to conduct evaluations to identify the existing problem or deficiencies in order to ensure the service is running successfully (Luo & Buer, 2015). Reference services began in the late nineteenth century with the purpose of assisting the inexperienced, unskilled readers and scholars in using library services and resources (Das, Gurey, & Saha, 2009).…”

A Rapid Review of the Reporting and Characteristics of Instruments Measuring Satisfaction with Reference Service in Academic Libraries

“…Respondents were asked to consider aspects of librarian behaviour such as approachability and responsiveness, helpfulness, respect for confidentiality, and offering referrals; and aspects of librarian performance such as ability, accuracy, knowledge, and inspiring confidence. Five instruments (Blake et al, 2016;Butler & Byrd, 2016;Huang, Pu, Chen, & Chiu, 2015;Jacoby et al, 2016;Luo & Buer, 2015) asked students to gauge their likeliness to use, re-use, or recommend the service. Masrek and Gaskin reported presenting respondents with 10 items about Service quality, usefulness, and satisfaction (p. 42) but unfortunately did not provide the full text of the items within their article, making it impossible to determine how they conceptualized these elements of satisfaction.…”

Provision and Awareness of Digital Library Resources in a Multi-Mode University: Perspectives of Distance Learners and Librarians.

“…Academic libraries provide content in the form of media resources comprising tangible and intangible resources. While tangible resources such as the print collection, and services such as reference and instructional services continue to feature significantly in conventional education in universities, the emergence of new service models (Ahenkorah-Marfo & Nikoi, 2019), such as ICT-enabled distance education, require more than tangible resources and the scope-limited traditional reference (Luo & Buer, 2015). Distance education subscribers require, in addition to library physical content, the provision of digital learning objects such as online tutorials, subject guides and open educational resources (Brewer, Rick, & Grondin, 2017;Courtney & Wilhoite-Mathews, 2015;Davis, Cochran, Fagerheim, & Thoms, 2016;Salem Jr, 2017) with an ultimate goal of producing information literate graduates (Fernández-Ramos, 2019;Ukwoma, Iwundu, & Iwundu, 2016).…”